Last season, Napoli miraculously ended their 33-year wait for a Serie A championship by winning it with five games remaining, but with new leadership and recent history working against them, keeping it might be a very difficult assignment. On Saturday, they face promoted Frosinone to start their championship defense.
Rudi Garcia, who replaced Serie A champion Luciano Spalletti, will lead Napoli in an attempt to make history by becoming the first side since Juventus in 2020 to win the league twice in a row.
The only two trophies the Frenchman has won are the French Cup and the Ligue 1 title, despite his experience and scant trophy achievement.
The loss of longtime football director Cristiano Giuntoli, who left the team to join Juventus last month, also hardly have helped with his assimilation.
During his announcement, Garcia acknowledged the size of the challenge Napoli was facing.
The player’s championship should inspire confidence, but when the new season starts, everything is fresh.
“The players need to kind of put their past successes behind them.”
Napoli performance and stats
It will be Napoli ended the league in the 1st position with 90 points.
In the last 38 games, it has won 28 times, drawn 6 times, and lost 4 times. In its last match, Napoli won 2-0 against Sampdoria.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 77 goals and conceding 28.