Naples, De Laurentiis also promises bonuses for the Champions League

In a month enclosed in twenty days and five matches. A not very difficult route but with some dangerous tight bends, which, however, if taken well, will help to pick up speed, to continue towards a spring that can become a straight stretch where you can accelerate flat out, like in a Grand Prix, in view of the finish line. And in this regard, the president Aurelio De Laurentiis also gave us important stimuli, in the dinner meeting held on Tuesday evening with the team in a cabin in the Caserta area.

The film producer, by company philosophy, exhausts the rewards policy in the contractual phase with its members, setting bonuses on the performance of individuals. In short, he is not the type to open negotiations on the Scudetto prize hypothesis. A topic on which there was some friction with the locker room last season. And perhaps certain “revolutionary” choices on the market were also prompted by that situation.

De Laurentiis is obviously very satisfied with the performance of this new team, younger and impervious to the pressures of a place like Naples, always passionate and engaging. The president sees a different fire in this group and then, since no one has ever asked, on Tuesday evening he understood that it was time to give an input. And he has promised his boys a “gift” if they win the Scudetto. No quantification, and there won’t even be a negotiation: it will be a choice of the president and the team will accept it. After all, only in Lega prizes and UEFA qualification, winning the title means revenue of around 30 million. If a percentage in the form of a bonus will come to the team, it’s in the logic of things.

And since the president has had a fixation called the Champions League for some time, and here too the journey of the Spalletti gang has thrilled, here is the doubling. For the first time, with all due respect to Eintracht Frankfurt, qualification for the quarter-finals is not a mirage and Napoli at its best has the potential to enter the European Top 8. If this historic goal is achieved, for the almost centenary club, De Laurentiis has also ensured another “gift” in this case. And at the same time he has announced that he will also set a prize for winning the Champions League. Attention, no one has gone to their heads but setting such high goals, so unthinkable just a few months ago, serves to raise the bar and try to achieve something that seemed impossible. And now, however, even illustrious experts are discussing it, convinced of the strength of Naples.

In theory, that of February does not appear impossible. Because before the first leg in Frankfurt, on the 21st, the Azzurri will face three teams from the right side of the standings: Spezia, Cremonese and Sassuolo. But woe to underline this to Spalletti who obviously thinks match after match, because thinking right now about the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 would be mentally a huge mistake. Also because there are fairly recent precedents that make one sense the danger. Because Spezia in the last championship won at Maradona, even without ever shooting on goal. Cremonese is the only team to have celebrated in Fuorigrotta this season: last month when they eliminated the Azzurri from the Italian Cup. And Sassuolo at home with the Azzurri came back from 0-2 to 2-2, in the last 20′: it was December 2021. Having said that, there will still be an opportunity for Spalletti – having the entire squad in good physical condition – to alternate his men a bit so as not to overload them with fatigue and also to keep as many players as possible in shape and ready to solve matches even on the run, as this Napoli group taught us to know how to do, which is a pleasure to observe on the pitch how he plays and the understanding he has developed between the components. The aspects that convinced De Laurentiis to turn the season finale into a Grand Prix.