The European dream of Naples is shipwrecked in the depths of the Thames. In fact, at Stamford Bridge, the ambitions of a team that until now had never shown limits and reverential fears were shattered, almost as if they had been playing in the Champions League for a lifetime. Yesterday evening however, Napoli showed the world all their inexperience, which at these levels is almost always fatal. He still has a bitter taste for having lost a historic opportunity, which would have been qualification for the quarter-finals, against a strong but far from unbeatable opponent, but now we mustn't make the mistake of throwing everything away. The victories over Manchester City, Villarreal and Chelsea were extraordinary feats, for a team that fell just when they just had to do the best. The experience will serve for the future, which Napoli hopes will be closer than ever.
THE MATCH
Anyone who hadn't seen the match and only read the final result might think of a one-way match, but things didn't go like this, or at least not immediately. In fact, in the first 20 minutes Napoli came close to scoring 4 times: in that order Hamsik, Lavezzi, Cavani and again the Slovakian fired blanks towards Cech's goal, missing the goal that would undoubtedly have tipped the match in their favor . Chelsea? It looked like the frightened team seen at the San Paolo, a colossus on the edge of a precipice only to be pushed down. But the Blues have classy players and decades of experience, people like Terry, Lampard and Drogba, in short, true champions that Napoli don't have (read the scorer's table to believe). And so the Ivorian's goal arrived at the first good opportunity, splendid in heading a soft ball from Ramires.
The Azzurri felt the pinch, but despite everything they once again had the opportunity to bring down Chelsea. Too bad Cavani wasn't in the evening, otherwise today we'd be talking about a completely different result. Chelsea gained confidence minute after minute, only to let off steam in the second half. Ready to go and Napoli's advantage was gone: a corner kick given by Campagnaro and a header by Terry, one of the most criticized in Villas Boas' management. Despite the awful one-two punch, the Azzurri had a surge of pride that could take them to the quarterfinals, thanks to Inler's petrifying right foot (at least for Cech). It was the 54th minute, you "only" had to hold on for another 36. But Napoli don't have the characteristics to control matches, which is why they should never have left the ball in the hands of the English. Which will no longer be what they were a few years ago, but they still have people capable of making a difference, especially if they receive gifts like the penalty committed by Dossena. What was the need to catch the ball with your hand in the area? The blue midfielder is still wondering, but in the meantime Lampard thanked him. Result of 3-1, all in perfect equality. But in extra time, whoever has the most nervous energy wins and Napoli had none left. And so Chelsea went to get the ticket for the quarter-finals (thanks to Ivanovic's stone), while the Azzurri waited disconsolately for Brych's final whistle. It went badly, but maybe it was right. This Naples has frightened the greats of half of Europe, as demonstrated by the jubilant demonstrations of Stamford Bridge, and this is already a great result.
THE REACTIONS
He pointed the finger at Walter Mazzarri's bad luck, but also at the lack of experience of his players: “A very difficult game. It was understood from the beginning when we missed goals that we usually don't miss. We could have done more, both in attack and defense, like on the occasion of the penalty which was supposed to be a harmless ball for De Sanctis and instead went for a corner. If this match had been in two years time we would have won it, because these guys are all young. We paid a lot for inexperience, it was noticeable even from the outside. The boys felt so much about this appointment”. The president Aurelio De Laurentiis has a different opinion, who certainly didn't expect such a heavy defeat: “The adventure is over, we'll try again next year. I think our team has shown a superior quality of play, but Chelsea have senators who know how to make the difference in games like these. It's provincial to think that we lack experience, knowing how to play football counts, these are lies and excuses to cling to. I don't want to hear about lack of experience at certain levels of my team and I don't want to give them excuses."
