It was only Hellas Verona, but by thrashing the Gialloblu 3-1 just hours after Juventus’ 3-0 win over Cagliari in Serie A’s opening round, Napoli began their Scudetto challenge with the best possible result, without needing to start Dries Mertens.
On a rainy night in Verona and on what could well be the worst pitch Maurizio Sarri’s side will play on this season, Napoli still managed to dominate possession from early on causing problems for their hosts and, by the end, a two-goal margin was flattering for the Mastini.
It took an own goal from Samuel Souprayen for Napoli to lead but in truth, there could have been daylight between the sides before he had the misfortune of turning a corner into his own goal just after the half hour mark.
Mertens had become the go-to guy for goals in Sarri’s Partenopei side last season in Arkadiusz Milik’s absence. The Italian tactician was forced to deploy him as, at first, a false No.9 before Mertens showed that he could and would be more than that by becoming a complete striker and making it easy for the Neapolitan faithful to move on from Gonzalo Higuain.
It was Higuain’s planned successor, Milik, who started at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi. In just one hour on the pitch the Polish forward showed that he is more than capable of rediscovering his early 2016/17 form, when he scored seven goals in nine games before suffering an injury to a cruciate ligament in his knee.
Milik combined well with Jose Callejon and Lorenzo Insigne in his hour on the pitch, and bagged an extremely well taken goal for himself, showing good intelligence and technique to take his shot on early, avoiding the influence of the surface while slotting confidently into the corner.
Although the season has just started, and although the opposition were weak, the signs are good for Napoli, who picked up exactly where they left off last season.
In 2016/17, the Partenopei opened the Serie A campaign against another newly promoted side – Pescara – and were held to a 2-2 draw. After that, Milik found form but his injury in October was what caused their only bad patch of the season.
From the turn of the year to the season’s end no other side picked up more points than Napoli and, October aside, they weren’t far off toppling Juventus last year.
This season, they need no such time to settle and Sarri has Napoli ready to go from the off, as they showed against Nice in midweek and on Saturday in Verona. In Mertens and Milik, they have two clinical strikers and two different types of player to choose from, while Adam Ounas will also provide them with another option in the final third.
Napoli are ready to compete for the Scudetto and their painful 27-year wait could, finally, be about to come to an end.
