Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti explains why he was sent off and suggests Fabian Ruiz and Kalidou Koulibaly will miss the match against Atalanta.
Sassuolo recovered from two goals down, collecting a 2-2 draw against Spalletti’s Napoli at the Mapei Stadium.
Napoli remain the table leader, but with just one point more than Milan, who won 3-0 against Genoa.
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They had travelled to Reggio Emilia without the injured Victor Osimhen and Zambo Anguissa, but Spalletti had to deal with more injuries during the match.
Lorenzo Insigne was replaced during the break, same as Kalidou Kouliabaly and Fabian Ruiz in the second half.
Napoli were up 2-0 when Ruiz was replaced and 2-1 when the defender was subbed off.
“We are talking about top players who can give serenity to the team during the game,” Spalletti told DAZN.
“I am sorry because I was about to replace Fabian and he asked me to stay on the pitch for two more minutes. In those two minutes, he collected an adductor injury.
“He is having issues, same as Koulibaly. The pitch was not great, so it’s difficult to recover them, but we’ll see because we have good doctors here.
“Insigne had a problem with his calf, I decided to replace him to avoid an injury and he agreed.”
The Azzurri host Atalanta at the Stadio Maradona on Saturday.
“We had to do something more, but Sassuolo are a good team and we accept the result,” Spalletti continued.
“Unfortunately, we lacked the quality to cope with their pressure. They were really aggressive in the end and they managed to draw, so praise to them.”
Why was he sent off?
“Because I protested for the free-kick that led to Sassuolo’s equaliser,” Spalletti explained.
“It was foul on Rrahmani. Instead, he was given a yellow card. That’s why I protested. He shielded the ball and was hit.”
However, the referee saw a different foul by Diego Demme and booked the Napoli midfielder and not Rrahmani, meaning Spalletti protested for the wrong reason.