Diego Maradona's Argentinian connection to Napoli continues to inspire Giovanni Simeone as the Partenopei edge closer to the Scudetto.
Napoli have not won the Serie A title since the late Maradona guided the Naples side to the championship in 1990.
Simeone – son of Atletico Madrid coach Diego, who is a former team-mate of Maradona – has played a supporting role to star striker Victor Osimhen, though that does not diminish his squad status.
The 27-year-old forward scored a late winner against Milan in September and repeated the dose in a crucial 2-1 victory over Roma on January 29, with those representing two of his three Serie A goals this term.
With a 15-point lead at the summit and a first Scudetto in 23 years in sight, Simeone lauded the connection he has with Napoli fans due to their love for Albiceleste icon Maradona.
"Being an Argentinian here is amazing," he told Sky Sports. "Napoli is different. This club represents the history of Italy, the history of Diego Maradona.
"It is a pleasure for me to play here because every fan sees me as Argentinian and because of Maradona they want to speak to me. It is 'Maradona, Maradona, Maradona'.
"It is not just the club, it is the whole city. Everybody is a fan here. Everybody speaks about football, everybody breathes football.
"Neapolitans are similar to Argentinians. We speak similarly. We have the same gestures. It feels like home. I am the same as them because football is a passion for me. I am in the right place."
Simeone, who has the Champions League emblem tattooed on his skin, scored three minutes into his competition debut against Liverpool this season.
That marked the first of eight strikes in all competitions this season, scoring a goal every 66.8 minutes – by comparison, Erling Haaland has hit the net once every 72.3, while Kylian Mbappe has done so every 84.9.
Napoli team-mate Osimhen is further down that list with his 18 goals in 22 games coming at a rate of 93.7 minutes-per-goal, yet Simeone treasures every opportunity he gets as a substitute.
"It is not easy to know that you do not start. When the coach tells me that I will be on the bench, it is difficult for me but I always prepare as if I am starting," he added.
"I need to be ready for everything. Life is like this, you must be ready for the moments that you do have. I am ready for every minute I am given.
"The quality of the time is more important than the quantity."
While Simeone insists Napoli will not get ahead of themselves, relying on a mantra from his father, the striker believes Luciano Spalletti's side have no limit to their ambitions this campaign.
"The group is the most important thing. Every player will be needed. If the starting forward does not score, the next one can," he continued.
"To get the trophy, we need to be there in every match. My dad says something that I have always tried to remember – partido a partido – match-to-match.
"We need to be prepared for every match, ready for everything, because every three points counts. I feel the same with the Champions League.
"I feel we can play against any club, ready to play against anyone. Then, it is difficult to say if you will win or not. But we are ready. The Champions League is really important to me. I want to be there in June."
Asked if Napoli can achieve something special, Simeone will believe it when he sees it, adding: "I do not know because I have not won anything. When it is the time, maybe I can tell you."
Napoli 2-1 Parma: Lukaku and Anguissa fire Conte's men to last-gasp win
Romelu Lukaku and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa scored in second-half stoppage time as Napoli fought back for a thrilling 2-1 victory over Parma in Serie A.
Newly promoted Parma, who stunned Milan last week, looked set to claim a second surprise win in as many games when Ange-Yoan Bonny won and converted a 19th-minute penalty.
The momentum of the game changed, however, when Parma goalkeeper Zion Suzuki was shown his second yellow card for a foul on David Neres with 15 minutes of the 90 remaining.
With no further substitutions available to the visitors, defender Enrico Del Prato took over in goal and went close to getting his team over the line with a clean sheet intact.
However, new signing Lukaku came off the bench to equalise for Napoli in the second minute of stoppage time, shortly after the Partenopei had seen a penalty overturned following a VAR review.
There was more drama to come at the death as Anguissa headed home in the sixth minute of stoppage time, though Napoli also had to survive one last scare as Pontus Almqvist was denied by Alex Meret at the other end.
Data Debrief: Flying start for Lukaku
Just as Napoli's hopes seemed to be slipping away, up stepped debutant Lukaku to level with a low strike, setting the stage for the most remarkable of comeback victories.
Across the last five Serie A campaigns, Lukaku has 29 goals in 48 home games for Inter, Roma and Napoli. That is the fewest home games required by any player to net over 25 goals in the competition during that span.
Parma, meanwhile, were left to rue the sending-off of Suzuki, who became their first goalkeeper to see red in Serie A since Antonio Mirante against Sassuolo, back in March 2015.
Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Leipzig: Visitors fightback halts unbeaten streak for Alonso's side
Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first defeat in 36 Bundesliga matches, as Leipzig came from behind to stun Xabi Alonso's side 3-2 at BayArena.
Lois Openda struck twice for Marco Rose's, who recovered from 2-0 down to make it two wins from two and move to the summit of the table.
It looked like business as usual for the reigning Bundesliga champions when they scored twice in the last seven minutes of the first half through Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo.
However, Leipzig replied deep into first-half stoppage time with Kevin Kampl reducing the deficit.
Openda then brought the visitors level in the 57th minute, before a stunning long-range strike completed the turnaround 10 minutes from time, condemning Leverkusen to their first league defeat in 15 months.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen's long streak comes to a shuddering halt
Leipzig became the first side to beat Leverkusen in a Bundesliga match since Bochum achieved the feat a staggering 462 days earlier.
The visitors have begun a Bundesliga season with two wins from two for only the second time, also doing so in 2019-20.
They are also now unbeaten in 13 league matches, their longest such streak since Rose took charge.
As for Leverkusen, their invincible streak is officially history, as is their 29-game unbeaten run on home soil.
'We really let ourselves down' - Coleman slams Everton after late Bournemouth collapse
Seamus Coleman acknowledged Everton "really let ourselves down" and must "look at ourselves in the mirror" following their spectacular late collapse against Bournemouth.
Sean Dyche's side, who were seeking their first points of the season, led 2-0 in the 87th minute at Goodison Park through goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
However, the hosts were undone by three crosses in the latter stages, with Antoine Semenyo pulling a goal back and Lewis Cook levelling, before Luis Sinisterra completed a sensational turnaround in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Boos rung around Goodison Park as the Toffees remained pointless and rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, and Coleman echoed the supporters' frustrations.
"We really let ourselves down in front of our fans," the skipper said. "We cannot take our foot off the gas at this level. Unfortunately, we did that.
"We cannot be conceding the goals that we did. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror."
Meanwhile, Dyche bemoaned the lack of responsibility amongst his players, as they became the first side in Premier League history to lose a game after leading by two or more goals in the 87th minute.
"We did so much right until they scored their first goal," the Everton head coach said. "The game should have been out of sight. We conceded one and then threw it away. I can't put my finger on it right now.
"They kept raining it forward and got their reward in the end. They were playing it forward and crossing it into the box, and we didn't deal with it. Simple stuff, but we threw it away. It is the third game we have thrown away this season.
"Everyone was looking at someone else to deal with things and that is when there is trouble. You could see the body language change. You have to see games through, and we have enough experience to do that, but today we didn't."
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola added: "It was the worst game we played this season. Everton deserved to win today, but the players kept pushing.
"I always have hope because this team has spirit. We have done it before and had some good comebacks. The spark of the first goal made us believe we could do it again."
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