Genoa coach Davide Ballardini said his team will ‘play a completely different match’ against Napoli and hopes to make up for the opening round woes at Inter.
The first game ended in a 4-0 defeat against Inter at San Siro and Ballardini wants a reaction from his players when Napoli arrive at the Marassi on Sunday.
“I expect a completely different Genoa than the one I saw against Inter,” Ballardini said at a press conference. “It’s a duty to play a completely different match compared to the last one.
“We need to do the opposite of what we did against Inter. We must be a team, compact, clear in the two phases of the game.
“We must show that Napoli will play against a team that knows what to do.”
Napoli are without suspended Victor Osimhen but Ballardini still expects a busy night for his defenders.
“You cannot give them space, we must limit them by attacking them first, we will have to influence them immediately, make them think as little as possible and not give them an opportunity to express the qualities they have.
“You do this only by covering the whole pitch well, being a team and remaining aggressive.”
The 22-year-old defender Johan Vazquez has arrived on loan from UNAM Pumas with an obligation to buy with conditions.
Ballardini is not sure if he will make his Rossoneri debut against Napoli, as he might need more time.
“He made four trips between Italy and Mexico, it’s difficult to judge,” Ballardini said. “We know him because we followed him, but let’s give him time to train and then we’ll talk about him.”
Genoa are close to completing deals with Lazio forward Felipe Caicedo and former Napoli defender Nikola Maksimovic, but Ballardini wanted to focus on the match against the Partenopei.
“We have a good match to play against a great team, a team that are fighting to win the championship,” Ballardini said. “It’s right to talk about this.”