Napoli were held to a 0-0 draw in an extremely ill-tempered match by Espanyol, with Victor Osimhen and Hirving Lozano going close.
President Aurelio De Laurentiis broke with protocol and sat on the bench next to coach Luciano Spalletti and director Cristiano Giuntoli, even leading protests against the referee and assistants before leaving the field early.
Fabian Ruiz, Matteo Politano and Adam Ounas were out due to slight muscular issues.
Victor Osimhen had a shot charged down and Amir Rrahmani made a decisive interception on Mato in the box.
Benjamin Lecomte made two big saves on Osimhen in quick succession, including on a header from Mario Rui’s corner.
It was not a very friendly pre-season meeting, as a scuffle broke out between various players, including Osimhen and Sergi Gomez.
President De Laurentiis protested with the referee at half-time, feeling Leandro Cabrera and Vinicius Souza should’ve had more than just yellow cards for their tough tackles.
Espanyol threatened to take the lead from a corner, only to be denied by a combination of Nikita Contini and Osimhen clearing off the line.
Lozano’s cross-shot skimmed both Osimhen’s head and the far top corner, but Contini needed a fine save to keep out Luca Koleosho after Mathias Olivera’s error.
Napoli 0-0 Espanyol
Napoli: Meret (Contini 46); Di Lorenzo (Zanoli 69), Rrahmani (Ostigard 46), Kim (Juan Jesus 69), Mario Rui (Olivera 46); Anguissa (Zerbin 69), Lobotka (Demme 46), Elmas (Zielinski 46); Lozano, Osimhen (Petagna 69), Kvaratskhelia (Gaetano 69)
Image Twitter: @sscnapoli
Waw. What a poor set of preseason games. I do not look forward to the season on that form…
Transfer business done too late, no back up striker, odd, odd stuff.