Napoli, raises new alarm ahead of big match with Juventus
A new alert is sounding in the Napoli household on the eve of the challenge against Juventus, scheduled for Sunday at 6 p.m. at the home of the Bianconeri: Vanja Milinkovic-Savic is in fact in strong doubt, due to a muscle soreness picked up during the finishing session at Castel Volturno. However, the Serbian goalkeeper is among the summoned players and the medical staff of the Neapolitan club is monitoring the situation hour by hour. Conte hopes to recover him, but his presence at the Stadium is far from certain: only in the immediate pre-match will there be the final choice.
The problem emerged all of a sudden, during the classic eve refinement: Milinkovic-Savic complained of muscle discomfort, immediately worrying an environment that, this season, has already had to deal with several injuries, some of them quite serious like those of Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku. In case of a forfeit, Alex Meret, whose last game was on September 28 (AC Milan-Napoli 2-1 at Meazza), will be among the goalkeepers. That related to Milinkovic-Savic’s condition would be yet another emergency in a season that has been anything but lucky for Napoli.
In the meantime, the Azzurri team remains very active on the market front, with the goal of providing Antonio Conte with the necessary means to face the second half of the season. After the departures of Lorenzo Lucca, who went to Nottingham Forest, and Noa Lang, who will instead wear the Galatasaray jersey, the club has accelerated to reinforce the squad by closing for the arrival of Giovane from Verona, an outright transaction made official on Saturday afternoon. The Brazilian will already be available against Juve.
Napoli’s season so far has been a continuous seesaw: convincing victories have come, but also heavy missteps that have slowed the race to the top of the standings. The team has struggled to find continuity in Italy and in Europe, aided by the long series of injuries that has affected Conte’s team’s roster.
Despite the difficulties, Napoli still remains in full fight for a place in the top four. Performances against the bigs have shown encouraging signs, but the team still needs to find defensive solidity and offensive incisiveness, which have often been lacking even against opponents who on paper were more approachable than they actually turned out to be.
