Napoli will look to extend their 100 percent start to the Europa League when they play Young Boys at the Stade de Suisse in Berne on Thursday evening.
The match will be the first meeting between the two sides since a Coppa delle Alpi tie that took place in 1966 with Omar Sivori, Cane, Gastone Bean and Mauro Gatti scoring the goals in a 4-2 win for the Azzurri.
Young Boys had previously enjoyed a golden era during the 1950s and early 1960s winning four successive Swiss league titles between 1957 and 1960 and also reached the European Cup semi-final in 1959.
They have since struggled to replicate those achievements and after opening Group I with a 5-0 success against Slovan Bratislava came crashing down to earth two days later as they lost 1-0 at amateur side FC Buochs in the Schweizer Pokal.
Die Gelb-Schwarzen have since suffered further setbacks to Sparta Prague, Aarau and Basel but have won their last five European home matches, scoring 15 goals in the process.
Napoli currently top Group I after winning their opening two games against Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague, and now face opposition that is relishing the prospect of playing the Partenopei.
Josef Martin Niederberger notes in ‘A Century of Italians in Switzerland’ that by 1970 more than half a million Italians lived in Switzerland, many thousands of them having migrated from the Mezzogiorno as a result of labour recruitment programmes after the Second World War.
Young Boys coach Uli Forte is one of many second generation Italians whose parents came to Switzerland during this time.
“I rejoiced at the draw when I knew we are having to face Napoli,” the 40-year-old tactician told Radio Crc a week after the group stage draw was made.
“I have Neapolitan origins. My father is from Salerno then in 1968 my parents emigrated to Zurich, where I was born. The idea was to earn abroad.
“We have many Italians in the squad or are of Italian descent: Moreno Costanzo, for example, has a Neapolitan father, Leonardo Bortone is originally from Salerno so it will be a very special game.”
Napoli are expected to rotate their starting eleven and will be without Miguel Britos as he suffered a muscle strain in the 2-2 draw at Inter on Sunday.
Florent Hadergjonaj, Marco Burki, Alexander Gerndt and Matias Vitkieviez are all currently injured for Young Boys.
Expected Starting XIs
Young Boys: Mvogo; Sutter, Von Bergen, Rochat, Lecjaks; Bertone, Sanogo; Nuzzolo, Kubo, Steffen; Hoarau.
Napoli: Rafael; Maggio, Henrique, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Lopez, Inler; De Guzman; Hamsik, Mertens; Zapata.
