Naples, Spalletti believes it: “Scudetto? We know we have an unrepeatable opportunity”

Napoli has started running again, the unexpected elimination from the Italian Cup is behind them. The pitfalls that the derby at Salernitana’s house could hide have been circumvented without too much difficulty. One goal in each half, so the points become 50 and for two nights the pressure on the pursuers increases to +12. But for Luciano Spalletti the times are not yet ripe to talk about the Scudetto. “It is right that you do it. We are aware that we have an unrepeatable opportunity and we must behave accordingly, without wasting the possibilities we have and remaining humble and professional”, he clarified in the interview granted to Dazn at the end of the match.

The analysis

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The danger of not approaching them in the best way was real, but the team responded adequately: “These matches can be conditioned by enthusiasm, by sufficiency but also by too much responsibility. It’s important to manage everything correctly, always trying to play well, with right, to bring home the result. In the first half, Salernitana waited for us and we crowded into the front line without finding space, so we risked taking a restart. We found the plays with which to change the inertia of the match, even if we had to be faster. We kept our balance in the second half.” Spalletti then focused on the action of the first goal, at the end of a first half that didn’t satisfy the coach. “They are plays of important quality, with flair – he continued – they are the ones that can make the difference. Even though we managed possession well, we went under the pace with few players going beyond the opponent’s defensive line. This type of work is essential to create the holes, we made a few alternating movements, but then we managed to secure the score”.

The Captain and Meret

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The goal is just the umpteenth demonstration of a high and constant performance for Giovanni Di Lorenzo. “He’s essential for us. He deserved the armband and everyone agreed when I made this choice. He’s impressive in terms of how he trains every day and how he behaves with his teammates. In general, we have to go faster than tonight and he is the first who will send this signal when we resume training on Tuesday. I have to say that I have many top-level professionals at my disposal,” observed the coach. Words of praise also for Meret, author of a decisive save in the final, with the help of the post. “In football you can never be calm. If Alex doesn’t put a patch on Piatek, the game could have changed radically, also considering substitutions and emotionality. We need to do more. My compliments, it was an extraordinary intervention after a “hour and a half without being seriously engaged in the rain. When you are outside the heat of the game, you have to be at an exceptional level of mental preparation to make that great save, and to say that he had a few fever lines tonight. Maturity becomes fundamental : in the second half we tried to score but we were aware that it was more important not to run any danger”, concluded Spalletti.