Napoli – Cagliari

Napoli will confidently defeat Cagliari at their stadium

Napoli achieved a 'championship' victory in the first round. The holders of the scudetto faced Sassuolo, who have returned to Serie A, but the status of 'newcomer' is hardly applicable to such an opponent. The 'Neroverdi' started well but conceded an early goal. On the 17th minute, the first goal of the championship was scored by Scott McTominay. The Scot netted with a beautiful header from Politano's cross. Towards the end of the first half, one of the best players of Napoli last season could have scored a double but he hit the crossbar of Turati's goal. The aforementioned duo could have doubled the advantage for the 'Partenopei' at the beginning of the second half, but the crossbar intervened for the hosts. Nevertheless, something even more significant happened – Kevin De Bruyne scored his debut goal. The Belgian found the net with a direct free-kick that was intended as a cross. That was how it ended. Theoretically, there could not have been any other result. The 'Azzurri' retained Antonio Conte, had a good transfer campaign, and should be aiming to defend their championship title. However, to what extent will European competitions hinder them in this? Cagliari faced Fiorentina and settled for a draw. The 'Rossoblu' started well and had several chances in the first half. However, domination on the pitch did not lead to anything. Moreover, the 'Lilies' opened the scoring in the match thanks to Mandragora's goal in the 68th minute. Moise Kean could have doubled the Florentines' lead but missed the target. Fabio Pisacane's side rushed to recover. After two good but unrealised chances, the task was taken into his own hands by Luperto. The defender equalised and earned his team a valuable point in the 90+4th minute. Last season, the Neapolitans beat Cagliari twice. In Sardinia, the 'Azzurri' crushed their opponent 0:4. At the 'Diego Armando Maradona', a less humble but no less convincing victory of 2:0 was recorded. Much of Cagliari's success in the first round match is linked to the opponent's congested schedule and the home ground factor. Neither of these two factors can be attributed to the current match. The 'Islanders' will face a significantly strengthened opponent who is in excellent form. It is hard to see this meaning anything good for Fabio Pisacane.