Luciano Spalletti is finally starting to talk about Napoli as Scudetto contenders after the win away to Atalanta. ‘We take risks, that is the life of a team that wants to play football.’
The Partenopei ended their run at 13 consecutive victories with a midweek defeat to Liverpool, but made it nine in a row in Serie A.
Victor Osimhen’s handball gave Ademola Lookman the opening penalty, only for the striker to turn it around with a goal and then his assist for Eljif Elmas.
The crossbar and Alex Meret came to the rescue to prevent an equaliser during a second half under siege in Bergamo.
It is hard for Spalletti to keep saying Napoli must keep their feet on the ground and not get too excited when they are eight points clear at the top of the table.
“It was a difficult match, everyone said they were three huge points if we managed to win, but what we want to achieve means every three points are important,” the coach told DAZN.
“We just have to keep being ourselves and hopefully misplace fewer passes than we did today, but with the right attitude of trying to score and win the game.
“I think Atalanta played a fantastic match, they are like Liverpool and Manchester City in standing out in the football world, because they present very clear ideas and approaches, so we all watch them.
“This gives the dimension of how important taking three points away from here really was. My team is now accustomed to this kind of atmosphere, with these chants and difficulties, doing that calmly and playing the kind of football Napoli want to see.
“To play attacking football, you have to take risks, but that is the life of a team that wants to play football.”
Osimhen was a key figure again this evening, scoring one goal and assisting another, but Spalletti is still not entirely satisfied with the Nigeria international.
“Osimhen is a player who has these sudden surges and spurts, but he needs to every now and then also figure out how to pass it and work with his teammates. He was a little tired today, but still created chances, caused issues, and when Atalanta pushed their wingbacks higher with the strikers wide, he was alone in midfield and in those situations can do more than he did tonight.”
It was the first time this season that Napoli have not been able to call on Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, as the Georgia international was out of action with back pain.
“He had this knock in the back from Trent Alexander-Arnold and seemed fine, but it got worse after a couple of days.
“Fortunately, we have players who can fill in, so we decided to let him stay home and rest for a bit rather than drag him around the place on another journey,” explained Spalletti.
“We’ll get nowhere if we only have one player to rely on, we need 22 who can be relied upon at any moment.”
If Napoli could continue with this momentum, they would be unstoppable but unfortunately I see history keeps repeating itself for them as it did during the corona virus break and I think the world Cup break is going to change everything for them once again
This is what I’m talking about they’re not Bayern or Man City who can overrun opponents so having a WC break would be a bad thing for Napoli. It happened before with Lazio and luck does run out. This league start is nothing but amazing however I don’t believe it’ll last until the end of the season.