Juventus are in better shape than Napoli. On the other hand, for Gennaro Gattuso, this game may be his last chance.
Serie A is entering a crucial phase. Now comes the stage of the season when each point has a very high price. For example, if Gattuso loses to Juventus in the 22nd round, he may be left without a job. Anyway, this is the forecast of Italian journalists.
Thus, the already very hot confrontation between Napoli and Juventus added additional intrigue. Napoli cannot really show the football and results that its odious president Aurelio de Laurentiis is demanding. For example, the Neapolitans lost the last two matches and were left out of the Italian Cup final. This was preceded by a heavy defeat to Verona and a loss to Juventus in the Italian Super Cup, which obviously gave Gattuso a heavy blow.
The first round match is missing
It is strange, but these teams meet each other in the second round in such a way that they did not play against each other in the first round. The match scheduled for October 4, 2020, has long been a topic of discussion.
Two Napoli players had a coronavirus, which is why the regional health department banned the club from leaving the city. As a result, could not arrive in Turin. In response, the Juventus players were ready for the game, and it got to the point where the Turinese came out on the field. According to Serie A’s protocol, if a team can collect 13 healthy players, it is obliged to appear in the game, and Napoli then did not really face such a problem. As we said, only two players had Covid-positives.
Initially, the protocol was considered a 0: 3 technical loss to Napoli against Juve for disregarding the protocol and they lost plus 1 point in the tournament table. However, the Neapolitans filed an appeal, which was upheld by the Italian Olympic Committee, and all the sanctions imposed on Gattuso’s team. Thus, this game will take place, but when, it is still unknown because the free date in the calendar does not appear yet and a lot will depend on the European results of these teams. It is also noteworthy that this is the only case when a particular team could not play due to 2 infected players. Otherwise, all the teams were playing in a much more difficult and alarming situation.
Another Intrigue
It’s already in the past, but another weird case has been added to these teams’ strained relationship. However, Juve and Napoli still played against each other this season. This happened on January 20, at the Italian Super Cup. Juventus beat rivals with Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata’s goals (2: 0). As a result, Andrea Pirlo won his first title in his coaching career against his friend (Gattuso). Lorenzo Insigne failed to score a penalty in that game. So, he has already accumulated 3 missed penalties against the Turinese.
Juventus
In the beginning, we said that Napoli is in bad shape and has particularly bad results. On the other hand, Juventus are really better in 2021 (with results). They have won 10 of 12 games, lost only once and reached the Italian Cup final with a goalless draw with Inter in the middle of the week. In general, Juventus have conceded the only goal in the last 7 matches. The situation in the defense is also corrected with the return of the legendary Giorgio Chiellini and his excellent form. In short, Juve are in a good period. But the other thing is that they cannot reduce the gap with the Milan teams, because Milan and Inter almost do not lose points.
Both teams have staffing problems. Juventus have Arthur, Aaron Ramsey, Paulo Dybala and Leonardo Bonucci injured. On the other hand, Napoli have Diego Demme, Elseid Hysaj, Kostas Manolas and Dries Mertens – injured. Kalidou Koulibaly has Coronavirus. Thus, Gattuso’s team has special problems in the defensive line, because they cannot really find full replacements for Koulibaly and Manolas in the Neapolitan team.