Mourinho does have a point. I watched the Milan derby last night, and from a neutral perspective it was even better than a Champions League game. Both teams showed the kind of skill and tenacity it takes to compete for the Scudetto. Napoli has shown lots of heart, but the richest teams in Serie A all have thoroughbreads at every position. After watching our reserves struggle against Bologna, I’m worried our depth will be a factor, especially if we go on a big UEFA Cup run.

Right now our squad is in good shape to qualify directly for the Europa League next year. However, if we can sustain a Champions League spot until January, De Laurentiis might choose to spend big in order to improve the team. There are always rumours linking us with South Americans – the latest two names were River Plate midfielder Diego Buonanotte and 17 year old Uruguayan striker Abel Hernandez. Napoli has also been linked with unsettled Real Madrid midfielder Royston Drenthe. This kind of speculation is fun to read but the rumours rarely become reality.

It is more likely Napoli will sign a player like Siena’s Daniele Galloppa. Although foreign players can turn out great – see Lavezzi and Gargano – foreigners are a higher risk proposition. If for whatever reason they don’t work out, you can be stuck with a non EU player whose high wages might be a turn off for other teams. If Italians are a bust, it’s an easier problem to solve.

On the injury front, Lavezzi is healing faster than expected and will likely play some part in Thursday’s epic showdown with Benfica. Iezzo’s broken nose will keep him out of the lineup a bit longer, while Bogliacino is still recovering from a broken ankle.

Finally, much respect to Luigi Vitale, who is now being scouted by Pierluigi Casiraghi for the U-21 Azzurri. I have watched Vitale a lot and you can see him growing into a solid two way player. He’s still young so he’ll continue making some mistakes, but his goal in the first leg against Benfica proved he could be a big game player. The Castellamare di Stabia native has won the starter’s job from Daniele Mannini, and should keep developing.

I’ll be back later with a preview of Napoli’s 2nd leg UEFA Cup showdown in Lisbon.

For what it’s worth, I jotted down some notes of the match which you’ll find below.
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Ginto’s scorecard of the Napoli-Vllaznia match

Napoli lineup: 3-5-2: Gianello; Santacroce, Cannavaro, Rinaudo; Montervino (c),Pazienza, Gargano, Dalla Bona, Grava; Zalayeta, Pià. Bench: Iezzo, Bruno, Blasi, Maggio, Hamsik, Lavezzi, Denis

5th minute – Dalla Bona hits a shot from the edge of the box deflected away. Ensuing corner (taken by Gargano) finds Zalayeta’s head but his shot is miraculously cleared off the line by Doci.
10th minute – Zala sets up Pia with a nodded on flick in the box to Pia but the Brazilian is offside
15th minute – free kick near the left corner flag taken by Grava…Gargano crosses it and Rinaudo’s header goes over the crossbar.
20th minute – Vllaznia earn their first corner and make a hash out of it
25th minute – Zalayeta earns a corner but Gargano overshoots the corner and the opportunity is wasted
26th minute – Game settles in and gets pretty ugly without much flow and lots of fouls halting the action
30th minute – Zalayeta gets free in the penalty box but mishits his shot over the crossbar
32nd minute – Vllaznia earns a corner nodded away by Santacroce
35th minute – Dalla Bona’s header from 10 meters beautifully struck on a pass from Pazienza but saved away by a Vllaznia defender
37th minute – Montervino crosses (huh?) in the area to Pia who splits two defenders but his shot goes obscenely high over the crossbar
39th minute – Montervino again gets off a cross to Pia who instead of getting off a shot tries to a backheel which snuffs out the opportunity
41st minute – GOAL! Rinaudo scores his first in a Napoli shirt. All day long to settle the ball in the box and scorch the back of the net
43rd minute – Pazienza enters the area on the right-hand side but at the moment he’s about to shoot, it’s blocked off and the subsequent corner is wasted
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46th minute – Zalayeta scores his first goal but is wrongly called offside by the official
46th minute – Santacroce commits a dangerous foul giving up a free kick which is ultimately wasted. Santacroce lucky to not have picked up a card there.
50th minute – Grava provides a cross from the left side and Pia’s header goes over the bar
56th minute – GOAL! Pia! Cross from the right side by Zalayeta for Pia, stops on his right, spins on a dime and scores on his left through the keepers arms
57th minute – Santacroce prevents a counterattack with a beautiful tackle and takes a long distance shot (about 35 yards out) which is rifled but deflected away for a corner.
58th minute – GOAL! Rinaudo with a brace. Gargano’s short corner from the right side to Pazienza who crosses it into box and finds Rinaudo who tucks it into the back of the net.
59th minute – Rinaudo tries for a tripletta are thwarted when Grimaj parries a rocket from 11 meters
63rd minute – Dalla Bona removed for Hamsik
63rd minute – Pia has an opportunity for a brace wasted when receiving a pass from the left flank by Montervino…
68th minute – Pia removed for Lavezzi
70th minute – Lavezzi puts on a dribbling show and the San Paolo explodes in appreciation
73rd minute – Lavezzi gets off two dangerous crosses to Zalayeta to the applause of the tifosi. No scoring chances resulted in either case, however.
76th minute – Zalayeta removed for Denis
80th minute – GOL! LAVEZZI! El Pocho returns to Napoli in grand style. Jukes last defender, stumbles one-on-one with the keeper but is able
to maintain his balance and knocks it into an open net
81st minute – Lavezzi picks up a yellow for taking off his shirt and showing of his inkwork
87th minute – GOL! HAMSIK! Denis sets up Hamsik who again knocks it into an open net as Vllaznia’s defense has their minds on getting some pizza margherita after the match

The return leg will be played in two weeks at the San Paolo and will merely be a formality. Napoli would have to lose by a three goal margin in front of 50,000 rabid Napoletanos. Ain’t gonna happen. Hopefully Edy Reja will use the match to give some Primavera and little-used players time to kick the ball the anger. Napoli will open up the 2008 Serie A campaign in Roma three days after the return leg. No sense getting someone injured in what should be a mere formality.

For those of us unfamiliar with the UEFA Cup group stage, here’s some details: Two qualifying rounds produce a first round of 80 teams who play over two legs to find the 40 clubs that make up the group stage. This phase comprises eight groups of five, with each side playing four games, two at home and two away. The winners, runners-up and third-placed teams from each section advance to the last 32 where they are joined by the eight third-placed clubs from the UEFA Champions League. Here, the traditional two-match knockout format resumes, until the final.

These were the only highlights I could find…sorry about the soundtrack.

Facing the partenopei will be the Greek side Panionios. While the Athenian side have never won the Greek Super League, they finished 5th last year and posted an impressive 8-3-4 record in the league at their 11,700 home stadium. The first match of the two-legged tie will be played in Athens on Sunday, July 20 and the return leg will either be played at the San Paolo the following Saturday or Sunday. Can you imagine the first European night at the San Paolo in 14 years? On a Saturday night? Napoletanos don’t need a reason to get crazy…but that would sure be one.

Panionios’ leading goal scorer from last year, Frenchman Rafik Djebbour (14 goals – 4th) normally plays in front of the two attackers in coach Ewald Lienin’s 4-3-1-2. Italian fans may remember striker Lampras Choutos from his brief time with Roma and Inter. He actually only played for Inter in one match and was loaned Atalanta, Reggina and Mallorca. In the summer of 2004, Choutos signed a 3-year deal with Inter but never found his place and wouldn’t until he returned to his home country last season. The former Olympiakos striker shrugged off a series of injuries to bag 10 goals last season and his two goals against OFK Belgrade in the Intertoto 2nd round sent Panionios through to this stage of the EUFA Cup.

24-year old Croatian Dario Krešić minds the nets for the Athens side and he took his lumps last year. Krešić appeared in 26 matches last year and his defense allowed a 5th worst 42 goals (Superleague has 16 teams). In the midfield, Panionios just signed young Ghanian Bennard Yao Kumordzi. The attacking midfielder was coveted by Bayern Leverkusen and was voted as the first half MVP of the Greek Superleague last year where he played for Egaleo. Anything else I have to say about Panionios would be complete fabrication. So that’s all I got. A score draw (road goals rule is in effect) would be a fantastic result for Napoli.

Meanwhile, Napoli hasn’t had the greatest run up to this Intertoto tie. They lost 1-0 against Hajduk Split (Hamsik missed a PK) and drew Hungarian 2nd division Uebelbach 1st division side Zalaegerszeg 1-1 today. Zalaegerszeg finished 7th last year in Hungaria’s top flight. Inacio Pia has played well in both matches and has a legitimate shot to actually stick with the team this year. We’ll see.

Hajduk Split highlights

Uebelbach Zalaegerszeg highlights

FORZA NAPOLI!