Napoli (H) | CL | Post Match Thread

A fine win, exactly the win you want to see in a team bedding into the season. Particularly swashbuckling and free-flowing goalfest? no. But we beat a team suffering only its 2nd defeat of 2025. Playing against 10 men is a pretty thankless task (City must win! cant believe they didnt score 5! etc.), so winning with complete control and playing the game at our pace, with zero threat, was a great result.

With a same XI as the Derby, it might have been easy to draw player to player comparisons, but i think the Napoli red card changed things a bit too much to be able to do that. It did look like we had a bit of a game on our hands, Napoli having a good period up to the red card (which was a bit of a counter from City, beautiful ball from Foden). We definitely moved the ball quicker, even if Napoli's very staunch and organised defence made finding a way through difficult.

I though Rodri played better than against United, Doku and Foden continued to impress, as did Khusanov. Gvardiol is finding his match legs again. Donnarumma had very little to do. Reijnders is still finding things a bit tough in that advanced, or breaking from midfield, role. He'll be ok but we might have to be patient.

great night, good crowd, good result, form building, fitness building. Just a generally positive night all round.
 
Nice win last night, Doku and Foden looking sharp, Erling scoring for fun, defence looking solid. Arsenal a huge test on Sunday, offer me a point now I'd snap their hands off. How shit were the Napoli fans last night, I was on ss level 1 and was expecting them to be mental, nothing of the sort, piss poor
 
BellLeeSumm said:
Nice win last night, Doku and Foden looking sharp, Erling scoring for fun, defence looking solid. Arsenal a huge test on Sunday, offer me a point now I'd snap their hands off. How shit were the Napoli fans last night, I was on ss level 1 and was expecting them to be mental, nothing of the sort, piss poor
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I thought the Napoli fans were great in the first half and then non-existent for much of the second half.
 
Interesting tactical tweak when we had the ball in the build up Bernardo moved deep effectively playing right back and Khusanov pushed to the right wing.
 
Really enjoyed that performance last night-Does not always have to be about flare especially in this competition.
Stand outs for me were Nico/Foden and Khusanov.
Donaruma is clearly a huge character and appears (well for me) to have given the defence a real shot of confidence.
Whoever said he is crap with his feet needs to give their head a wobble. Brilliant player and one of the best in the world. Great to see KDB back.
See you at Arsenal
 
it is so hard to judge from the last two games
United were just shit
Napoli went man down early

i'm happy that Pep uses O'reilly to widen the pitch and Doku drive inside the center to put more pressure on opponents CBs


when was the last time opposition got a red card?
 
If there was one team you'd ask me to back at ten men against eleven to get a draw, it would be an Italian team, and especially one managed by Conte. This was a good result. We're not what we were, and maybe we won't get back there for a long time. Maybe never. The team between 2017 and 2024 did never-before-seen things, and things that I think won't be done again — by anyone — for decades. It had skill in abundance, and an absolutely iron will. Let's never underestimate that. Let's never take it for granted.
But we're on the right track.
 
I was out last night so missed the game, does anyone have a link to the full match by chance?
 
Skrastins said:
it is so hard to judge from the last two games
United were just shit
Napoli went man down early

i'm happy that Pep uses O'reilly to widen the pitch and Doku drive inside the center to put more pressure on opponents CBs


when was the last time opposition got a red card?
Click to expand...
Keane on papa halaand?
 
This Doku inside left and right against the rags I think it was Pep 2 suggestion to Pep and having him there Doku if he does those runs causes more havoc because no one can try tackle him for worry of a pen! Want to see more of it..
 
roubaixtuesday said:
Anyone know why the Napoli fans had their banners upside down?
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in Ultra groups and particularly in fans from Italy, upside down banners are protest banners. I'm not aware of any problems at Napoli? so maybe they hate UEFA? dunno, but upside banners has been a thing for years to symbolise discontent.

you widely see stolen flags from opposition fans hung upside down as a sign of 'fuck you', but this was their own banners so something is going on there
 
I think Donnaruma is already up there with Mario and Roberto, where does he want his statue?
 
Skrastins said:
it is so hard to judge from the last two games
United were just shit
Napoli went man down early
Click to expand...
Agree. Our upcoming game against Arsenal will clarify matters.

Two take aways from the United and Napoli games:
1) Fodin is back;

2) Doku - in spite of my reservations about him - may be improving.
Doku has had two outstanding games in a row - if he's given license to drift and drive into the middle - he'll be at his best - and in his past two games he's had an excellent end product very often - scoring or assisting at the level expected of an elite winger.

It's no secret that Doku will toast most defenders in a one-on-one situation - and because of this - we've seen sides double team Doku when he receives the ball. This presents a new challenge for Doku - since he's double-teamed - there's an open attacker somewhere. Can he consistently use judgement to pass quickly in these situations, punishing the double team?
 
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