Slovan Bratislava v Napoli: The Return Of The Local Hero

Date: 2nd October 2014 at 8:05am
Written by:

Napoli Europa LeagueSlovan Bratislava host Napoli at the Stadion Pasienky in Bratislava on Thursday evening in the Europa League Group 9 clash with Napoli’s Slovakian international Marek Hamsik making a return to his former club.

Hamsik started his career with the Belasi but only made six appearances before he left for Brescia in 2004 as a 17-year-old but is still loved by the fans of the Krali Bratislavy.

Slovan and Napoli have never met in a European competition before but the Slovak’s have played Italian opposition in the form of Inter in 1982, AC Milan 1992, Roma 2011 and Torino in 1969 and have a favorable record over the eight games with four wins, one draw and three defeats, with two of the defeats coming against the great Milan side of 1992, losing 5-0 on aggregate over the two legs in the Champions League.

Both Slovan and Napoli have tasted glory in Europe before with Slovan lifting the European Cup Winner’s Cup in 1969, while the Partenopei defeated Stuttgart to lift the UEFA Cup with Diego Maradona pulling the strings in 1989.

Slovan head into the tie on poor form though with four defeats in their last five games including a 5-0 away defeat to Young Boys in their first game in Group 9 and have only scored once in the five games so they will be looking to top scorer Seydouba Soumah, who has five goals in the Fortuna Liga this season to starting finding some form once again.

Meanwhile Napoli recorded only their third win of the season in all competitions last Sunday, winning 1-0 away to Sassuolo in Serie A and will be looking to find some consistency as coach Rafael Benitez has come under pressure following their early exit from the Champions League to Athletico Club in the play-off round.

Slovan coach Frantisek Straka has a fully-fit squad to chose from while Napoli coach Benitez will be without Raul Albiol, Camilo Zuniga and Jorginho who haven’t traveled with the squad as they recover from injury.

Expected Starting XIs

Slovan Bratislava – Pernis, Cikos, Kolcak, Ninaj, Jablonsky, Milinkovic, Grendel, Peltier, Kubik, Soumah, Stefanik

Napoli – Rafael, Maggio, Britos, Koulibaly, Ghoulam, Gargano, David Lopez, Callejon, Hamsik, Insigne, Higuain

 

Comments are closed.