The latest reports suggest Walter Mazzarri will remain on the Napoli bench at least until the first leg against Barcelona, but Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona will be in the stands.
Multiple sources claimed over the last 24 hours that the 1-1 draw with Genoa could be the final straw for Mazzarri, who has an even worse average points per game on the Partenopei bench than his predecessor Rudi Garcia.
Now various reports note that while the situation is tense, Mazzarri will at least be on the bench for the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against Barcelona, at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday night.
However, in a rather curious twist of fate, the favourite to replace him will be watching on in the stands.
This is because Slovakia coach Calzona had already requested accreditation a week ago, seeing this as an opportunity to view midfielder Stanislav Lobotka in action.
Calzona is no stranger to Napoli, as he was in the coaching staff in two different spells, assisting Maurizio Sarri from 2015 to 2018, then returning for Luciano Spalletti for the 2021-22 campaign.
He left to take over as coach of the Slovakia national team in August 2022.
According to Sky Sport Italia and Sportitalia, if Calzona was to take the Napoli job, it would only be until the end of the season and forced to share his attention with Slovakia duties.
Another candidate to replace Mazzarri is Marco Giampaolo, formerly of Milan, while Rudi Garcia is technically still under contract.
Dopo le ultime voci circa il suo probabile arrivo sulla panchina del Napoli per sostituire Mazzarri, voci che al momento non trovano conferma, già immagino il putiferio che scatenerà la presenza di Francesco Calzona mercoledì sera al Maradona per Napoli-Barcellona. Il CT della… pic.twitter.com/XX4jwGjI7r
— Carlo Alvino (@Carloalvino) February 18, 2024