Spalletti: 'Stop thinking about Italian defensive football'

"They say we are probably playing the best football in Italy, because football in Italy is so bad," Spalletti said after the match at Deutsche Bank Park. "Perhaps, Frankfurt even plays the Italian way more than we do, by stepping back and defending. It's time for us to get rid of the stereotypes about Italian defensive football."

Yesterday, Napoli completely overwhelmed the host. They finished 14 shots, with 10 goals, and held the ball 67%. Frankfurt only finished three shots, including one on target.

The result of that performance was a 2-0 victory for the Italian representative. After Khvicha Kvaratskhelia missed the 36th minute penalty, Victor Osimhen needed just four minutes to cushion the ball to correct his teammates. In the 65th minute, Kvaratskhelia hit the heel for Di Lorenzo to shoot from 16 meters to double the score.

"I'm very pleased with the match," Spalletti said. "From the beginning we showed character, controlled the game and did what we wanted to do. It was important that when we tried to score the second goal, we weren't allowed to lose our balance. did a great job of putting pressure, not allowing them to counter-attack and not allowing them to regain the game."

This victory gives Napoli a great advantage. In the second leg on March 15, Spalletii's team was kicked at home, and did not have to score at all costs. Even if they lose no more than a goal difference, Napoli will still enter the quarterfinals. However, Spalletti was very cautious. "Pride is the biggest enemy," emphasized the 63-year-old coach. "We have proven that Napoli deserved to be in the quarter-finals, but we still need to qualify for the second leg. The odds are still 50-50. We have one game left and only one incident. could change all that."

This is Napoli's sixth win since the beginning of the 2022-2023 Champions League season. In the previous group stage, they won five matches and lost the last match against Liverpool.

Napoli was also very successful in Serie A. Spalletti's teachers and students won 20 of the first 23 rounds, gaining 62 points and creating a 15 point difference with the second ranked team. Napoli also lost only one match in the first 23 rounds.