Europa League – Napoli-Zurich
Napoli welcomes Zurich in a second match from the 1/16-finals of Europa League. Let’s take a look at this clash at the Stadio San Paolo on Thursday night.
Napoli are already touching the 1/8-finals of Europa League after winning the first game on Swiss soil. The match at Stadion Letzigrund ended with a 3-1 win for the Italian side. Lorenzo Insigne, Jose Callejon and Piotr Zielinski scored for Carlo Ancelotti’s team. In the end of the game Benjamin Kololli scored for Zurich via a penalty kick, but we doubt that this will change something for the Swiss side. Napoli are now a very big favourite to progress.
In the Italian Serie A Napoli are second, because Juventus are just too strong for everyone else. Carlo Ancelotti’s team have lost just 3 games since the beginning of the campaign, proving that they are “the best from the rest” in Italy. Napoli’s current form is a little bit questionable, because the Azzurri made two draws in their last two games against Fiorentina and Torino. Napoli didn’t score a single goal in these two matches, but also didn’t concede.
Zurich are currently 4th in the Swiss Super League, having a very balanced record of 7 wins, 7 draws and 7 losses. In their last five games in the league Zurich won only once – against Grasshopper. They also made one draw and suffered three losses. In their last game Zurich suffered a 0-2 loss against the champion and current leader Young Boys.
After being kicked out from the Champions League, you can be sure that Napoli will aim to perform as good as possible in Europa League. This club is hungry for an European trophy, so Carlo Ancelotti will try to deliver it. Now the next step is to eliminate Zurich.