Antonio Cassano hit out at Napoli, Luciano Spalletti and ‘unbearable’ Fabian Ruiz after their Scudetto hopes were dashed. ‘They always fall at the final hurdle.’
The Partenopei had the opportunity to go top of the table, as Milan have played back-to-back 0-0 draws, but instead they lost 3-2 at home to Fiorentina and fell to third place.
“Napoli have really let me down,” Cassano told Bobo TV, the Twitch channel run by Christian Vieri.
“You can’t beat Atalanta six rounds from the end and then lose at home against Fiorentina in front of 50,000 people who are pushing you towards the Scudetto.
“They weren’t facing Bayern Munich. Spalletti’s team always fall at the final hurdle, they are missing that last push and it cannot be a coincidence that the same thing has happened a lot in recent years.”
Last season, Napoli were seemingly on track for a fourth place finish and Champions League qualification until their home draw with mid-table Hellas Verona on the final day of the campaign.
Cassano was particularly critical of several Napoli players he feels are not pulling their weight.
“Fabian Ruiz has been unbearable for at least four months. I never really liked him, but he’s bringing no quality at the moment.
“Piotr Zielinski has been disappointing too, apart from the first two-three months of the season. Basically, Napoli are suffering badly in midfield, with the exception of Stanislav Lobotka.”
Fabian Ruiz is only under contract until June 2023 and is widely expected to be sold this summer, with interest from Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and Liverpool.
The Stadio Diego Armando Maradona side have 66 points, trailing leaders Milan on 68, but Inter are also on 66 with a game in hand to be played against Bologna.