SSC Napoli is on the brink. The season is breaking. And the team around Stanislav Lobotka tonight (Nova Sport 4 broadcasts at 9 p.m.) he is playing a match that can decide everything.
The Slovak midfielder is in the center of the game and attention. He is one of the key figures of the team, which will welcome London’s Chelsea to the sold-out Maradona Stadium in the last match of the main stage of the Champions League. The air is thick, the pressure is palpable. There is no Tactic B for SSC Napoli. You have to win.
The table is relentless. Eight points, 25th place – first under the line. One step from progress, one step from failure. If the reigning Italian champion did not make it to the 24 advancing teams, it would be a blow that would hurt for a long time. Sporting, reputational, systemic.
Conte can pay his salary
Today is not just one evening. The question is whether Naples will remain part of the European elite or quietly disappear from it. About whether the season will get a new lease of life or break. And whether the team that recently ruled Italy can handle the moment when they are playing under maximum pressure.
That is also why the famous Italian journalist and long-time expert on the events surrounding the SSC Umberto Chiariello, in his traditional editorial on CRC radio, focused sharply on the topics before the Napoli-Chelsea duel in the evening.
“We are approaching a game that can determine the direction of the entire season. It makes no sense to pretend that it is nothing. Not breaking into the first 24 teams in Europe is not only a sporting blow, but also an economic loss – worth from three to twenty million euros, which corresponds approximately to the cost of the entire implementation team. Conte can basically pay his salary in one step,” said Chiariello.
The expert mentions shame
According to him, however, it is not only about finances. “It would be a shame. The reigning Italian champion from one of the five leading football countries in Europe, from one of the top European championships, would not be among the first 24 teams. And that at a time when, for example, Atalanta, a team currently in the middle of the table, can realistically think about advancing to the top eight. It would be too negative a signal,” he emphasized.
Napoli’s situation is all the more strained because the hopes of maintaining contact with the “big cup scene” have narrowed down to the last option.
If Napoli want to be among the first 24 teams to progress to the knockout stage, they must win today and at the same time hope that one of the opponents from 17th place below will waver and make room for them.
Theoretically, even a draw could be enough, but only in case of several simultaneous hesitations of competitors – too many combinations, too few real chances. So only one thing applies: three points are a must.
Lobotka feels like a Neapolitan
The opponent is writing the next chapter of this dramatic evening. Chelsea are currently eighth with 13 points, which they have along with seven other teams. It is only a hair’s breadth between the teams with direct progress to the round of 16. In other words: the London club must also think about victory, moreover, it comes in good form after three wins in a row.
In a difficult situation, Naples also leans on its leaders. One of them is Slovakian midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, who spoke openly about his relationship with the club and the city in an interview with The Athletic.
Stanislav Lobotka celebrates the goal. (Author: X/Official SSC Napoli)
“For me, Naples is like a second home. I feel like a Neapolitan because I’ve been here for so many years. The food is fantastic. The city, the people, the mentality. I’m really happy here. I saw how people celebrated every day. Everything was closed because we won. Everywhere I went I felt like the president of the country,” described Lobotka.
He follows a clear philosophy on the field.
The hardest preparation
“I’m never afraid to play football. I always try to do my best not to lose the ball, find a solution, choose the right pass and the best way to get the team up the field.”
He also addressed great appreciation to coach Antonio Conte.
“I talked to Milan Škriniar, my teammate from the Slovak national team, who worked under Conte at Inter Milan. He told me: It won’t be easy, but if you do everything he wants from you, you will be successful at the end of the season.”
Lobotka admitted that training under the Italian coach was extremely difficult.
“It was the hardest pre-season of my life. I was completely exhausted, but I became physically and mentally stronger. Everything was for a reason.”
According to the Slovakian representative, Conte is a detailer who makes it much easier for the players to make decisions.
Tale I Optimist
“The way he prepares us for every match works exactly as he says. He made me better especially in the game without the ball, but also with the ball – for example, in situations when I’m alone, how to receive the ball or which way to turn. It’s the little things that make you think. You train them and then exactly such a situation appears in the match. Then you say: he was right. And that gives you confidence.”
Before the duel itself, Napoli coach Antonio Conte, who is aware of the seriousness of the moment, also spoke.
“You have to be optimistic, but at the same time be prepared for the worst. That’s our job, even if things don’t go as planned. When you go against the wind, the waves are high. Otherwise, everyone is strong.”
Naples has an ally
“However, I have a team that is ready to move on. We have nothing to complain about, we are giving everything,” added Conte.
He previously led Chelsea for two seasons (2016-2018) and won the English title and the FA Cup with them.
“Now we have Chelsea in front of us, the reigning champions of the club world. I know them very well – their vision, their investments and their ambitions. We have to do our best and at the same time realize that we have a strong ally: the Maradona Stadium. We must not underestimate it.”
“The fans know that regardless of the result they can be the deciding factor. We know what it means to play at home with their support. It would be great to see a blue wave to drive us forward.”
The situation of Naples is also complicated by long-term widespread decay. De Bruyne, Anguissa, Gilmour, Rrahmani, Politano, Mazzocchi, David Neres and Vanja Milinković-Savič are injured.
