At the beginning of the 2021-22 Serie A season, Serie A overlord Juventus dropped the chain early, the defending champion Inter Milan stumbled, AC Milan's long-term unbeaten record was even stronger than last season, but it was Napoli, which had a stronger record than AC Milan, to lead the Serie A table for a long time.
However, as the season progressed, the problem of Napoli's thin and not all shortcomings was exposed, and it quickly lost the top spot. In the current Serie A table, Inter Milan leads with 49 points in 20 games, AC Milan is second with 48 points in 21 games, and Napoli is third with 43 points in 21 games. Towards the halfway mark, Atalanta, who is out of the Champions League group stage, has a stronger record, ranking fourth with 41 points in 20 games, and only 2 points less than Napoli in the first round of the game. Considering the strength of Juventus' recent record, which is fifth in line behind him, and the strength of Roma, who are also competing for the fourth place in the sixth place, Napoli may not only fall out of the top three at any time, but also may eventually fall out of the top four, and there is no hope of returning to the Champions League.
At 1:00 a.m. Beijing time on the 14th, the Italian Cup 1/8 final, Napoli hosted Fiorentina. If it is not easy to compete for the league title, or even for the Champions League qualification, then in the domestic cup arena, it is still possible to compete. Fiorentina is strong, but not necessarily above Naples.
Napoli started 451, Petania topped the centre-forward position, both lobotka, Dem, midfielders Elmas, Mertens and Politano, four defenders Ghulam, Lamani, Tuanzebe, Di Lorenzo, goalkeeper Ospina. If you want to find a famous player, it may only be Mertens. The total value of the first eleven people in this set is also 150 million euros. Napoli may not have given up on the idea of a cup match either.
Fiorentina started 433, Vlahovic, Sabonara and N. Gonzalez formed a forward trident, three midfielders Duncan, Torreira and Castrovelli, four defenders Biraj, Nastasiac, Mirenkovic, Vinuti and goalkeeper Dragowski. The combined value of the starting eleven is 190 million euros. The biggest star in the squad is undoubtedly the young Serbian center, who is in the limelight towards Haaland's Vlahovic. Former AC Milan No. 9 Piatek, who returned to Serie A in the winter window, sat on the bench.
After the game began, the two sides attacked and defended each other, and Fiorentina had a better position in the field. In the 41st minute, Vlahovic scored and Fiorentina led Napoli 1-0. In the 43rd minute, Napoli equalised with Mertens.
In the first half, the two sides were evenly matched.
Shortly after the start of the second half, Fiorentina suffered a crush! After a long pass from Napoli, Vinuti and the goalkeeper made a mistake, and Dragowski had no choice but to bump into Elmas and was sent off for a direct red card. Fiorentina played one less man early and was sent off as a goalkeeper.
In the 57th minute, Biraghi scored and Fiorentina overtook 2-1.
In the 82nd minute, Lozano, who came on as a substitute in the second half, was also sent off with a red card, which was tied.
Entering full-time stoppage time, Ruiz was sent off with a red card for his second yellow card, and Napoli played one less person than Fiorentina. Petania scored and Napoli drew 2-2. When the two sides entered overtime, Napoli's numerical disadvantage was highlighted, and Fiorentina's tenacity was stronger. In the 105th minute, Vinuti scored. In the 108th minute, Vinuti assisted and Piatek scored. In the 119th minute, Mahler scored another goal.
Napoli were unable to return to heaven and eventually lost 2-5.
In the first season of Serie A that year, serie A scored more goals than C Ronaldo, but after switching to AC Milan, the 2019-20 season lost his shooting boots after putting on the red and black No. 9 shirt, and the move to the Bundesliga gradually fell silent. Now back in the Apennines, scoring goals on his debut as a substitute is also a good start.