Francesco Calzona smiled with relief in his second press conference as head coach of Naples, the first to evaluate a match, after the draw against Barcelona at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium. “I am satisfied because the team has shown that it does not want to give up and wants to get out of this difficult moment,” said the new Partenopians coach.
“Even at the end I thought we could win,” he added. The fact that we fought until the 95th minute and tried to win the game gives me satisfaction because the team has rediscovered a winning spirit.”
The draw in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League allows a Naples team to dream, which is in a deep identity crisis just one year after having won the long-awaited scudetto, the first Serie A title since Diego Armando Maradona . So much so, that Calzona arrived just two days ago to replace Walter Mazzarri, becoming the third coach of the season started by Frenchman Rudi Garcia. The French coach was fired with 21 points in 12 games, when Napoli was fourth in the Italian league, ten points behind the leader, Inter Milan. They are now in ninth position, 27 points behind the Nerazzurri.
Calzona, who despite coming from the Slovak national team knew the club well – he was part of the coaching staff first of Maurizio Sarri and then of Luciano Spalletti – is aware that there is little time and is clear about the duties that his players must do. "I want a lot of order on the field. We must work as hard as possible at a tactical level," he asked.
With Serie A sentenced, Naples now commits itself to the dream of passing the tie against Xavi's team to give joy to the fans who still do not fully understand the terrible season just one year after the historic Scudetto. “Playing in Barcelona is difficult for everyone, but this draw keeps us in the race. We want to pass because Napoli must aspire to pass the tie. It will be a difficult game but we want to improve what we did tonight,” he concluded before the press.
