Napoli suffered another friendly defeat, falling 3-1 at Wolfsburg due to defensive errors despite an Arkadiusz Milik goal.
The Partenopei have really struggled in pre-season and look a long way off completing the transition from Maurizio Sarri to Carlo Ancelotti.
They debuted their third choice Kappa kit this evening in Germany, in silver-grey with the usual panther motif seen this season.
Marek Hamsik was used in a central midfield role with Fabian Ruiz to his right and Piotr Zielinski on the left.
Napoli suffered another friendly defeat, falling 3-1 at Wolfsburg due to defensive errors despite an Arkadiusz Milik goal.
The Partenopei have really struggled in pre-season and look a long way off completing the transition from Maurizio Sarri to Carlo Ancelotti.
They debuted their third choice Kappa kit this evening in Germany, in silver-grey with the usual panther motif seen this season.
Marek Hamsik was used in a central midfield role with Fabian Ruiz to his right and Piotr Zielinski on the left.
Fabian’s rocket from distance whistled just wide, while Orestis Karnezis denied Daniel Ginczek and Steffen fired over the bar.
Wolfsburg broke the deadlock before half-time when Lorenzo Insigne and Zielinski were caught in possession, sparking a counter-attack completed by Josip Brekalo.
New signing Kevin Malcuit made his Napoli debut after the break, while Simone Verdi and Dries Mertens took wide roles around Arkadiusz Milik.
Poland international Milik hit the side-netting after a goalkeeping error, then Mertens saw his curler skim the woodwork.
The pair combined at pace and Milik stung the Wolfsburg shot-stopper’s gloves. He got the equaliser eventually, as Mario Rui exchanged passes with Mertens and whipped in the cross for the centre-forward’s towering header.
However, it was very short-lived, as Napoli had barely finished celebrating when Raul Albiol allowed Ginczek to spring the offside trap and send Admir Mehmedi clear.
Milik drilled inches wide, but once again Albiol lost sight of Ginczek and Karnezis mistimed the rush off his line, allowing Mehmedi another tap-in.
Wolfsburg 3-1 Napoli
Brekalo 43 (W), Milik 69 (N), Mehmedi 70, 73 (W)
Wolfsburg: Casteels; Verhaegh (William 81), Brooks, Knoche (Bruma 81), William; Brekalo (Mehmedi 60), Guilavogui, Malli, Arnold (Rexhbecaj 77), Steffen (Blaszczykowski 77); Ginczek
Napoli: Karnezis; Hysaj (Malcuit 46), Albiol (Maksimovic 75), Koulibaly (Chiriches 75), Mario Rui (Luperto 75); Fabian Ruiz (Diawara 61), Hamsik (Rog 61), Zielinski (Allan 46); Callejon (Verdi 46), Milik (Ounas 75), Insigne (Mertens 46)
Image via @sscnapoli