On Tuesday, Napoli host Chelsea in the Champions League Round of 16 — meaning it’s unlikely that this Napoli fan will sleep on Monday night. Chelsea may have hit a rough patch recently, but that’s no guarantee that things will go well at the San Paolo. The partenopei have, how shall I put this…they have a slight problem when they underestimate the strength of their opposition. Yet Chelsea did the double just two years ago, winning the Premier League and […]

Adequate Provocation in the Heat of Passion is a legal phrase, used in the American court system to mitigate a crime from murder in the first or second degree down to voluntary manslaughter. Why bring this up now, in the context of writing about Napoli? Well, I confess, it’s because I’ve been having homicidal thoughts about some who don the azzurri kit. And when one sketches out a plan involving tricking Salvatore Aronica into getting a shampoo, and then holding […]

There are multiple story lines that could be woven into a discussion on Napoli’s win over Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday. The partenopei, an average club paying average wages to a relatively small squad, defeated the oil-sheik’s wealthy play toys. On a broader level, the team from the inferior Serie A beat the club from the best league in the world to take second place in Group A. And on a much narrower level, Edinson Cavani, who’d […]

Italy and Uruguay face off in just a few hours, and, providing the two sides don’t resort to the type of defense necessary in a match termed a “friendly”, this one promises a bit of excitement. Think about it: Mario Balotelli and Luis Suarez on the same pitch, facing off against each other. The possibilities for an epic showdown involving biting, kicking, tantrums and possibly a choreographed dance routine featuring ribbons, darts and balloon is immense. Now, if you’ve come […]

Oh Udinese, what happened to you in Thursday’s Europa League match against Atlético?  The zebrette won the first leg, 2-0, but on their visit to Madrid were hammered 4-0. But there’s not really that much you can take away from an Udinese loss in Europe’s lesser tournament. Francesco Guidolin certainly didn’t field a full-strength squad, at least not from the start, leaving out Mauricio Isla, Dusan Basta, Kwadwo Asamoah and Pablo Armero. Antonio Di Natale was left behind, and Gabriel […]

Napoli supporters – and in case you haven’t figured it out, I am certainly one of those – have reason to be thrilled after Wednesday’s performance against Udinese. The zebrette had been undefeated through their first seven matches, with Samir Handanovic not having conceded in over a month, when he allowed Stephan El Shaarawy’s equalizer for Milan. But then Udinese had to play at the San Paolo – not the fortress it may have been last season, but the Partenopei […]

Serie A Weekly welcomes writer Kirsten Schlewitz to our Italian football frontpage For some reason, when gearing up for Napoli’s match last week, I was convinced that they were playing Cagliari. Perhaps I simply had a premonition that the Partenopei were about to be beaten by Parma – at the San Paolo, mind you. My brain was simply protecting my heart by fast-forwarding a week (while the internet protected me by not having any decent streams available). But now we’ve […]