Walter Mazzarri returns to the Napoli bench after a 10-year hiatus and the squad looks very different now to his last match in May 2013.
The coach was formally appointed this afternoon following the dismissal of Rudi Garcia, who had himself only been appointed in the summer after Luciano Spalletti walked away.
It is a return to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona for Mazzarri, although of course at the time it was still called the Stadio San Paolo, having been renamed following the death of El Pibe de Oro in November 2020.
Mazzarri oversaw 89 wins, 49 draws and 44 defeats on the Napoli bench in all competition, lifting the 2011-12 edition of the Coppa Italia.
His final match for the Partenopei was a 2-1 defeat away to Roma on May 19, 2013, and curiously enough the coach that day was Aurelio Andreazzoli, whose Empoli just got Garcia fired.
The starting XI for Napoli had Antonio Rosati in goal, while Rolando, Miguel Angel Britos and Paolo Cannavaro made up the trademark three-man defence.
Christian Maggio and Camilo Zuniga were the wing-backs around Valon Behrami and Blerim Dzemaili.
Marek Hamsik and Goran Pandev acted as support for centre-forward Edinson Cavani.
It was Cavani who scored the last goal of Mazzarri’s Napoli reign, though to no avail after Marquinho and Mattia Destro had found the net for Roma on Erik Lamela assists.