By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 2 hours ago
Walter Mazzarri on January 28. CLAUDIA GRECO / REUTERS
Naples, Italian champion in crisis, dismissed its coach Walter Mazzarri on Monday, 48 hours before the reception of FC Barcelona in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League, reports the Italian press.
According to the sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport and the Sky Sport television channel, the president-owner of Naples, Aurelio De Laurentiis, has decided to terminate the contract of Mazzarri who had he himself replaced the Frenchman Rudi Garcia in mid-November.
Under Mazzarri’s leadership, Napoli have only collected fifteen points in twelve league matches (1.25 points per match), compared to 21 points in as many matches (1.75 per match) for Rudi Garcia. With a squad largely unchanged from that which dominated Serie A in 2022-23 and which offered Neapolitan fans a third national title after 33 years of waiting, Naples has already more than the Champions League to save his season. Napoli is left behind in the league, was eliminated from the Italian Cup as soon as it entered the competition and was beaten in the final of the Italian Super Cup by the ‘Inter Milan.
Already a name to replace Mazzarri
According to the press, Napoli, 9th in the Italian Championship, is in advanced negotiations with Francesco Calzona, who held the position of assistant coach of Napoli between 2015 and 2018, then in 2021- 22, and who has led the Slovak selection since 2022 with whom he will participate in Euro 2024. If his appointment until the end of the season was confirmed, he will only have one training session. training Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. with his new players before facing Barça, the reigning Spanish champion who is also having a difficult season (3rd).
