Way back in August, Rafa’s side drew their first European home leg of the season 1-1 only to lose the second. That defeat eliminated from the Champions League by Athletic Club at the third qualifying round.
Coming forward some nine months and that same first leg scoreline has cost Napoli not only their chance of a European Final and some important silverware, but also a chance of a guaranteed Champions League spot.
To go to Kiev and lose is heart-breaking, and the Partenopei will carry the weight of the disappointment of Dnipro with them for the rest of the season.
For the remainder of Napoli’s season to now become a matter of three games is fortunate however. That they are three huge games left, which will go a long way to sealing not just Rafael Benitez’s future with the Partenopei but the way he will be remembered in Naples as well, is less so.
The former Liverpool coach has become accustomed to success, particularly in Europe, but will have to spend the next few days putting his personal skills into action, making sure that the defeat to Dnipro doesn’t stall the season at exactly the wrong time.
They have until Monday to recover, and as a result will be able to spend the weekend watching their rivals attempt to keep them at bay.
Lazio particularly, just three points ahead, will face a tricky visit to Sampdoria before Napoli are in action. Then, for all their occasionally impressive performances, a home game against already-relegated Cesena is among the best ties a team could hope for to win some confidence back.
It may well need to be.
The next week, Napoli travel to face the only Italian team left in Europe — Juventus. As another straw that Napoli might cling to, the Bianconeri will face Lazio in the Coppa Italia final in the week before that game. They could plausibly thus gamble on some tired legs.
Yet, alongside that clash, the fixture list has thrown up another lifeline.
Roma and Lazio remain the Partenopei’s closest challengers, and incredibly they face one another in the penultimate game of the season.
With one of their rivals guaranteed to drop points, the impetus falls onto Napoli to ensure they can make the best of it.
Thus far this campaign, when the pressure has been on, Benitez’s side have wilted.
Aside from the timid European exits, a Coppa Italia defeat to Lazio came about after a defeat in the second leg. Even the previous game against Juventus saw a Partenopei comeback extinguished a mere five minutes after drawing level.
Question marks remain about both Napoli and Benitez, and that game in Turin will go a long way to answering them.
They remain a difficult side to get a handle on — and it is impossible to know whether the comfortable wins at Wolfsburg and Trabzonspor are a true representation, or aberrations amidst defeats to Hellas Verona and Dnipro.
However, assuming the game against Juventus ends positively and the Partenopei go into the last game of the season within striking distance of Lazio, they could not have a better opponent. On the evening of Sunday May 31, Stefano Pioli’s Lazio are due to take the field at the Stadio San Paolo to face Napoli.
That game, it turns out, may well be an all or nothing shoot-out for Champions League qualification.
Looking at the fixture list, it is eminently possible that Napoli be able to emerge glowing after one of their most disappointing results in recent times. Benitez will need to pick his team up quickly; Napoli are well able to beat all three teams they have left to face, but will need to be at their best in all three games.
For a confusing coach, with a confusing team playing out a confusing season, it is indeed surprising that there could be such a simple way to judge whether Napoli have been a success or not.
In three games’ time they will either be in the Champions League or not. Then, and only then, can Napoli and Benitez be judged.
