Italian Serie A preview: SS Lazio – SSC Napoli (Part 1)
Lazio and Napoli are just two of the many Champions League hopefuls in the latest edition of Serie A. Lazio and Napoli stand second and third in the league respectively and with league leaders AC Milan facing a tough game against Inter, the winner of this
match has all the chance of going top of the league on Sunday.
Aquile in anticipated decline
Lazio made a dream start to the season and were the league leaders until match day 11 when AC Milan took over the top spot from Aquile. Prior to the crushing derby defeat, Lazio were on a five match winning run and such run of results took them to the Serie
A summit. The derby humiliation was followed by yet another defeat, this time an upset at the hands of Cesena as the Sea Horses defeated Aquile by a 1 – 0 score line. Lazio were never expected to fly so high in the first place and their negative run of results
has left many questioning the Aquile Champions League ambitions.
However, Eduardo Reja is a brilliant tactician and Aquile will return to winning ways not before long. The game against Napoli will be an ideal opportunity for Reja’s side to get the momentum back. With Hernanes back in the line up for this game, Lazio will
be a totally different side from the one that was humiliated by Cesena as the Brazilian playmaker will look to provide that much needed inspiration.
President Claudio Lotito has issued a rallying cry to his team, “We must make treasure out of these two defeats and always do better. It's the moment to roll up our sleeves and to remain united. We need humility, spirit of sacrifice, knowing that every game
presents great difficulties. I am absolutely not worried. The defeats against Roma and Cesena were very different. In the derby we went out on the pitch very tense and then there were other factors that were brought to bear, while on Wednesday we also paid
for the many absences owed to rotation. It would have been different with a full strength team”
Glory days back for Neapolitans
Aurelio De Laurentiis’ hard work and inspired transfer activity is slowly bearing the fruit as the Partenopei have climbed into the top four after years of exile. The last time Napoli finished in the top four was when a certain Diego Maradona was weaving
his magic for the Azzurri.
To say that glory days are back in Napoli would be an overstatement but Azzurri have shown tremendous improvement during the four years they have spend on their return to the top flight.
Apart from a shock home defeat to Chievo Verona, Walter Mazzarri’s side has done extremely well in eking out results against smaller oppositions – a champions’ hallmark. The side has a brilliant away recorded with Partenopei yet to loose on their travels.
Mazzarri’s men have registered victories in four of the six matches they have played away from home.
The attacking duo of Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi has been devastating, Cavani in particular has come of age at Naples and his partnership with Lavezzi is undoubtedly the best in the league. Reja’s men go into this game knowing that a victory, coupled
with a Milan loss, will take them to the Serie A summit after years and years of mediocrity.
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