(Reuters) – Serie A champions Napoli will be facing league leaders Inter Milan on Sunday, as the title defenders aim to prove they are still contenders in the Scudetto race.
Following a fluctuating start to the season which led to the dismissal of Napoli coach Rudi Garcia, Walter Mazzarri, his replacement, secured a winning start on his return to the club with a 2-1 victory at Atalanta last weekend. Napoli is currently ranked fourth in the table, but Mazzarri’s team gained two points on the top two after Inter’s draw at Juventus last weekend. Despite an eight-point gap with Inter, a win against the leaders would put Napoli right back in contention.
Inter, led by Simone Inzaghi, has demonstrated their title credentials this season. They possess the best defence and attack in the league, have suffered only one loss, and have remained unbeaten in seven games since their defeat by Sassuolo.
Mazzarri is experienced in battling for the league title at both clubs. He previously spent four seasons at Napoli, leading them to a runners-up spot in 2013, before moving to Inter where he was sacked early in his second season at the club.
His only trophy win came at Napoli, as he lifted the Coppa Italia in 2012. Mazzarri, 62, has managed in Serie A since 2004 without the ultimate success and believes winning a Scudetto would be the crowning glory of his career.
There is a film capturing Napoli’s triumph last season by their president Aurelio De Laurentiis, and Mazzarri feels like part of that Scudetto win is thanks to his work at the club. “The other day the president came to the dressing room, he showed me a clip that will come out and I got chills, the same feeling I had with the Coppa Italia on my way back from the final in Rome,” Mazzarri said in a recent statement. “When I left we had done a lot, finishing second with the squad where it had been when I arrived, I’ll take credit because the club’s climb started with me.”
Mazzarri now has the opportunity to make history at Napoli, although a defeat by Inter on Sunday would make that dream almost impossible, at least for this season.
Juventus, on the other hand, have an opportunity to move to the top of the table – at least until Sunday – when they face ninth-place Monza on Friday. Juventus is two points behind Inter but will meet an unbeaten home side this season in Monza.
AC Milan returned to winning ways in the league by securing a 1-0 victory over Fiorentina last weekend after four games without success. Their win placed them in third place, six points behind rivals Inter. They need to bounce back from their 3-1 home defeat by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday when they host Frosinone on Saturday, a side who have 18 points but just two of those have come away from home.
Fifth-place AS Roma are set to travel to face Sassuolo on Sunday, a team who, despite their victories over Inter and Juventus, are down in 14th place with only two home wins from seven.
A slip-up by Jose Mourinho’s Roma could see Bologna move even higher in the table. Bologna are level on points with Roma and have lost just twice this season. They will be away to Lecce on Sunday.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
