11 wins in a row, leader of Serie A, best attack in C1… We explain Napoli’s thunderous start to the season

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Themselves were probably not expecting it. By winning in Rome (0-1) on Sunday October 23, the Neapolitans consolidated their position as leader of Serie A. Their nine successes in eleven games, embellished with a status of best attack (26 goals) make them the hit of this start of the Italian season. It’s even better in the Champions League, where Napoli have so far achieved a faultless performance.

With four wins in as many games, the club is already qualified for the eighth with 17 goals scored (record this season), four more than Bayern Munich, who are hot on their heels. He even offered cards against the finalist Liverpool (4-1) and Ajax (6-1). On Wednesday, the reception of Glasgow Rangers, who have already been shattered with 16 goals conceded in four games, should further increase this total.

This canon departure, which makes Naples one of the three undefeated teams of the five major championships, with PSG and Real Madrid, did not flow from source. At the foot of Vesuvius, summer was even volcanic for some of the tifosi with frenzied passion. In question, Napoli lost many executives during the transfer window, including Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea), Fabian Ruiz (Paris), Lorenzo Insigne (Toronto) or Dries Mertens (Galatasaray). The recruits to compensate for these departures, for the most part unknown before this season, are already clear successes.

A time courted by Rennes, the South Korean defender Kim Min-jae has already made people forget the Senegalese rock Koulibaly. He is the boss of La Botte’s fourth defense, only taken backhand nine times in Serie A. Offensively, Giovanni Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori give depth to a sector led by ex-Lillois Victor Osimhen, author of a Splendid goal on Sunday night.

But the real revelation of this start to the season is Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Arrived on the sly although crowned with a status of hope, the Georgian splashes his talent on the Italian lawns. His silky dribbling, his power and his many brilliant shots (8 goals, 7 assists in 15 games) have already earned him the nickname “Kvaradona” with an immediately won over audience. The slender left winger with his socks down was named Serie A’s best player in August. “And again, you haven’t seen anything! He’s even stronger in training”his teammate Osimhen recently had fun at the microphone of DAZN.

“But a single player doesn’t win. If Kim doesn’t win his duels, Lobotka and Anguissa don’t serve him, ‘Kvara’ gets two balls.”

Luciano Spalletti, Napoli coach

at a press conference

This perfectly oiled collective, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa is its symbol. Intermittent during his Marseille years (2015-18), the Cameroonian shines with his activity in the middle of the field. It is no coincidence that the – relative – lack of fluidity observed in the game in Rome on Sunday evening coincided with his absence due to injury. He should be restored for the World Cup and will be one of the few members of the Neapolitan contingent in Qatar (with the Pole Zielinski or the Mexican Lozano).

Where rivals AC Milan, Inter or Juventus will send a slew of players to the World Cup, Naples is relatively spared from the phenomenon. Luciano Spalletti will be able to work calmly to maintain this form. The deal is however far from obvious, as the Partenopei are used to thundering starts, before a winter low.

Last year, they had already occupied the lead of the championship until December, before finishing third, seven points behind the Milan champions. “A title is not won after eleven days but in June, at the end of the championship”, thus relativized Spalletti after the success in Rome in a press conference. And the Tuscan continues: “We have no pretensions, we’re going to eat our panino on the train and tomorrow morning, we’ll resume training!” In a Neapolitan context where the slightest spark can take on inconsiderate proportions, minimizing such success can be a good recipe for conquering a Scudetto that has refused them since 1990.


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