Napoli drew 3-3 away against Utrecht, and it was Cavani who scored a fantastic hat-trick to make sure that Napoli stay in the competition for their next group stage match against Steaua Bucarest which will be key in deciding which team will qualify for the knockout stages. Napoli scored first with Cavani, but then conceded three goals, and right before halftime Cavani pulled one back to make the score 3-2 for Utrecht. Then in the second half Cavani scored a penalty to give Napoli an important draw, and a chance to be the only Italian side left in the Europa League.
I think that it’s a shame that the Serie A sides did so badly in this competition, and I can only hope that Napoli manage to go deep in the competition and uphold some respect for Italian sides in Europe. What are your thoughts regarding the poor display from the Italian sides in the Europa League? Can Napoli progress through to the knockout round, and maybe go deeper? Comment below!
Italian teams have not done well in Europa League so there will be great emphasis on CL. Unfortunately, Inter are struggling, Roma are inconsistent and Milan have shown weaknesses against R. Madrid. The biggest obstacle will probably be either Barcelona or R. Madrid. Mourinho is a master motivator and it won’t be a surprise if Real makes the semi-finals.
Perhaps all hope lies with Milan unless Inter can go through a revival. Roma can probably reach the quarter-finals.
A point on Milan: As long as Ibra remains healthy and fit, then there’s nothing wrong with Milan depending on the Swedish star as much as they do. Inter did the same a couple of years ago and still won titles.
If Ibra can stay injury-free, then I see no problem with Milan depending on him. He’s the focal point for Milan’s attacking play. The Rossoneri need a goal scorer to partner Ibra so they need Pato back and perhaps need to sign a goal scorer who can come off the bench and score goals.
http://footballitaliano.co.uk/p6_66_5045_club-focus-milan-robinho-and-ibrahimovi?-enjoying-life-at-milanello.html
Pretty piss poor display by Samp. First they get knocked out of the CL by Bremen, who are drowning in the Bundesliga & CL, and now they’re out of the Europa League. Granted, they don’t have great resources, but not coddling Cassano is just stupid (who did they think they were signing?) and apparently they haven’t heard the old adage “you have to spend money to make money.” A little spent over the summer could’ve been worth €20 million in the spring.
As for the other teams — it seems like the usual — can’t compete in 2 competitions with thin squads — though as ever it makes you wonder why they even bother trying to get in Europe if they aren’t going to take it seriously. This attitude is really costing Italy, since Europa League & Champions League points count the same in UEFA’s coefficient.