Skip to main content
新闻

Napoli ready for European challenge

Napoli ready for European challenge

分享

Napoli are Italian champions and are targeting a genuine Champions League run after strengthening their squad over the summer.

By Graham Ruthven

There isn’t a city anywhere that celebrates the success of its team like Naples. When Antonio Conte’s side won the Scudetto last season, the sky above Mount Vesuvius was lit up by fireworks. Bunting lined the city streets and shrines to Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku were added to the ones for Diego Maradona and other Neapolitan icons.

After three decades of waiting, Napoli have celebrated two Serie A titles in three seasons, first under Luciano Spalletti, then with Conte at the helm. Each time, the city turned out to celebrate in the way only the Neapolitan can. Yet for all their domestic success Napoli have still to make a true impact on Europe.

Gli Azzurri only made it as far as the Champions League’s first knockout round in the 2023/24 season. The season before that, Spalletti’s side made a run to the quarter-finals, but suffered a disappointing exit to AC Milan when the draw had opened up for them to potentially make the final.

Napoli have never made it past the quarter-final stage of the continent’s most prestigious club competition even dating back to the days of the old European Cup. Maradona famously led the club to UEFA Cup glory in 1989, but Napoli have yet to make their mark in the Champions League. This is their final frontier as a club. 

It’s also Conte’s final frontier as a coach. While the 56-year-old has won titles in Italy and England, he has struggled to translate this domestic success into anything meaningful on the continent. In seven Champions League campaigns, Conte teams have won just two knockout games and have suffered three group stage exits.

This season for Napoli and Conte will be largely defined by what happens in the Champions League. This is a club, and a team, that is ready to make a serious European run. Napoli have strengthened over the summer and are better equipped to compete on multiple fronts for silverware.

Kevin De Bruyne was Gli Azzurri’s marquee addition and the Belgian already looks to have settled quickly in his new surroundings. The 34-year-old has scored two goals in his first three Serie A appearances for Napoli with Conte moulding his midfield framework around one of the best creative forces of his generation.

De Bruyne’s player trait comparisons still track highly

It might have been the right time for Manchester City to move on from the ageing De Bruyne, but Pep Guardiola could get a painful reminder of how he has yet to fully replace the Belgian when Napoli visit the Etihad Stadium to open their Champions League League Phase campaign tonight. De Bruyne looks to be in top form. He might have a point to prove on Thursday night.

Rasmus Højlund is another new Napoli signing set to return to Manchester in better shape than he left over the summer. The Danish striker scored just 14 minutes into his Serie A return on Saturday and already looks to have rediscovered the energy and confidence that disappeared from his game over two seasons at Old Trafford.

Of course, it was a similar story for McTominay after he left Manchester United for Napoli last year. At Old Trafford, the Scottish international was underappreciated. In Naples, though, he is an icon and a symbol of Conte’s title-winning team. McTominay is a proven difference-maker for Napoli.

McTominay’s Napoli career to date

Conte could have left Napoli at the end of last season. He publicly clashed with Aurelio De Laurentiis over the club’s transfer plans for the future, essentially strong-arming the Napoli owner into spending big on De Bruyne, Højlund, Sam Beukema, Noa Lang, Miguel Gutiérrez and Vanja Milinković-Savić, all of them have been signed to be important figures.

Opta estimates Napoli have been handed one of the toughest draws in this season’s League Phase. Indeed, only Monaco and Bodø/Glimt are judged to have a tougher run of fixtures with Conte and his players set to take on Chelsea, Manchester City, Benfica, Sporting, PSV, Eintracht Frankfurt, FC København and Qarabağ.

Nevertheless, Napoli now have the squad to handle the rigours of a Scudetto defence and a Champions League challenge. The way Conte sets up his team to stay compact at the back and attack open space in the final third could suit the European game and make Napoli difficult opponents.

If Naples exploded with title-winning joy in May, it’s difficult to envisage how it would react to a deep run in the Champions League. This is a city, and a club, that represents the local pride all fans have for their team and their community. That local pride, however, could be a powerful force that drives Napoli to continental glory.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Serie A on FotMob in the 2025/26 season – with in-depth stat coverage, including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Napoli ready for European challenge

Napoli are Italian champions and are targeting a genuine Champions League run after strengthening their squad over the summer.

By Graham Ruthven

There isn’t a city anywhere that celebrates the success of its team like Naples. When Antonio Conte’s side won the Scudetto last season, the sky above Mount Vesuvius was lit up by fireworks. Bunting lined the city streets and shrines to Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku were added to the ones for Diego Maradona and other Neapolitan icons.

After three decades of waiting, Napoli have celebrated two Serie A titles in three seasons, first under Luciano Spalletti, then with Conte at the helm. Each time, the city turned out to celebrate in the way only the Neapolitan can. Yet for all their domestic success Napoli have still to make a true impact on Europe.

Gli Azzurri only made it as far as the Champions League’s first knockout round in the 2023/24 season. The season before that, Spalletti’s side made a run to the quarter-finals, but suffered a disappointing exit to AC Milan when the draw had opened up for them to potentially make the final.

Napoli have never made it past the quarter-final stage of the continent’s most prestigious club competition even dating back to the days of the old European Cup. Maradona famously led the club to UEFA Cup glory in 1989, but Napoli have yet to make their mark in the Champions League. This is their final frontier as a club. 

It’s also Conte’s final frontier as a coach. While the 56-year-old has won titles in Italy and England, he has struggled to translate this domestic success into anything meaningful on the continent. In seven Champions League campaigns, Conte teams have won just two knockout games and have suffered three group stage exits.

This season for Napoli and Conte will be largely defined by what happens in the Champions League. This is a club, and a team, that is ready to make a serious European run. Napoli have strengthened over the summer and are better equipped to compete on multiple fronts for silverware.

Kevin De Bruyne was Gli Azzurri’s marquee addition and the Belgian already looks to have settled quickly in his new surroundings. The 34-year-old has scored two goals in his first three Serie A appearances for Napoli with Conte moulding his midfield framework around one of the best creative forces of his generation.

De Bruyne’s player trait comparisons still track highly

It might have been the right time for Manchester City to move on from the ageing De Bruyne, but Pep Guardiola could get a painful reminder of how he has yet to fully replace the Belgian when Napoli visit the Etihad Stadium to open their Champions League League Phase campaign tonight. De Bruyne looks to be in top form. He might have a point to prove on Thursday night.

Rasmus Højlund is another new Napoli signing set to return to Manchester in better shape than he left over the summer. The Danish striker scored just 14 minutes into his Serie A return on Saturday and already looks to have rediscovered the energy and confidence that disappeared from his game over two seasons at Old Trafford.

Of course, it was a similar story for McTominay after he left Manchester United for Napoli last year. At Old Trafford, the Scottish international was underappreciated. In Naples, though, he is an icon and a symbol of Conte’s title-winning team. McTominay is a proven difference-maker for Napoli.

McTominay’s Napoli career to date

Conte could have left Napoli at the end of last season. He publicly clashed with Aurelio De Laurentiis over the club’s transfer plans for the future, essentially strong-arming the Napoli owner into spending big on De Bruyne, Højlund, Sam Beukema, Noa Lang, Miguel Gutiérrez and Vanja Milinković-Savić, all of them have been signed to be important figures.

Opta estimates Napoli have been handed one of the toughest draws in this season’s League Phase. Indeed, only Monaco and Bodø/Glimt are judged to have a tougher run of fixtures with Conte and his players set to take on Chelsea, Manchester City, Benfica, Sporting, PSV, Eintracht Frankfurt, FC København and Qarabağ.

Nevertheless, Napoli now have the squad to handle the rigours of a Scudetto defence and a Champions League challenge. The way Conte sets up his team to stay compact at the back and attack open space in the final third could suit the European game and make Napoli difficult opponents.

If Naples exploded with title-winning joy in May, it’s difficult to envisage how it would react to a deep run in the Champions League. This is a city, and a club, that represents the local pride all fans have for their team and their community. That local pride, however, could be a powerful force that drives Napoli to continental glory.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Serie A on FotMob in the 2025/26 season – with in-depth stat coverage, including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.