Luciano Spalletti celebrates his 500th Serie A game on the bench and does it for Napoli against Empoli, the club where he both played and coached.
It kicks off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona at 17.00 GMT.
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the LIVEBLOG.
This is Spalletti’s 500th Serie A fixture as a coach, although technically he will be in the stands today and not on the touchline, as he completes his two-match ban.
In the era of three points for a win, so in Serie A from 1994-95, Spalletti is only the second coach to reach 500 games after Francesco Guidolin’s 545.
Curiously, he does it against Empoli, which is where his management career began in April 1994, taking them to promotion from Serie C1 all the way to the top flight.
He remained on their bench until June 1998, moving on to Sampdoria, Venezia, Udinese, Ancona, Roma, Inter and since this season Napoli.
Spalletti is from the Empoli area and also spent much of his playing career with this club from 1991 to his retirement in 1994.
The current Empoli boss, Aurelio Andreazzoli, worked as Spalletti’s assistant manager at Roma and Udinese.
Luciano Spalletti è un grande ex della partita, avendo giocato in azzurro dal 1991 al 1993 e avendo ad Empoli iniziato la carriera da allenatore. Per lui, da tecnico, 55 vittorie, 42 pareggi e 42 sconfitte, guidando la squadra al doppio salto dalla C1 alla serie A pic.twitter.com/5TZcGGf43o
— Empoli Fc Official (@EmpoliCalcio) December 12, 2021