Napoli easily defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 on the road to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals.
Three Italian clubs advanced to the round of eight for the first time since 2006, thanks to a brace from Victor Osimhen as the hosts defeated them 3-0 in Naples in the second leg.
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Victor Osimhen and Giovanni Di Lorenzo scored goals to help the Partenopel win the opening leg in Germany and advance to the quarter-finals. As Matteo Politano floated a cross from the right and Osimhen leapt high to direct in a header before halftime, the Azzurri showed no mercy at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. They were well in control and went ahead.
Victor Osimhen:
Di Lorenzo’s pass was rolled for Osimhen to slide home minutes after the break, giving the Nigerian a two-goal advantage. When Piotr Zielinski was fouled in the box ten minutes later, the home team won the game with a penalty that the Pole himself converted. It has been since 2005–06 that three Serie A teams have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with Napoli joining Inter and AC Milan in that group.
While he led the team to the UCL round of 16, Ancelotti, a five-time Champions League champion at the time (twice as a player and three times as manager), was fired first, and the manager who came after he was fired once and a half seasons later. Finally, Luciano Spalletti, a two-time Serie A coach of the year, the country’s stalwart, was held accountable. In southern Italy, the 63-year-old is still working his magic, this time with Naples after leading Roma to their last Italian championship 16 years ago.
Trouble In The Street Of Naples
The evening was ruined by fighting amongst fans in the city’s streets, but on the field, there was only one way to play. With a 2-0 victory in Germany, Napoli was considered the odds-on favourite to advance, and Victor Osimhen’s fine header just before halftime gave them the advantage. Prior to Piotr Zielinksi winning the penalty and converting it to seal the game for the Serie A leaders, Osimhen’s close-range goal after the restart nearly ensured safe passage.
Before Wednesday night’s game at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, which Frankfurt fans were not allowed to attend, video of the unrest in Naples was shared on social media. Videos showed riot gear-clad police responding to flares and other projectiles being thrown at them by people in the crowd, which was thought to number in the hundreds.
Local media reports said that Napoli’s ultras were also involved in the violence, which resulted in the alleged burning of several cars. As a number of arrests were made in connection with unrest before the opposite match in Germany last month, Eintracht supporters were prohibited from attending the game. Normally, the Bundesliga team would have had access to roughly 2,700 tickets for the match in Italy.
The Italian ministry of the interior will issue an injunction against SSC Napoli this morning, according to a statement posted on the club’s website on March 7: “Eintracht Frankfurt was informed late last night by Uefa that the Italian ministry of the interior is this morning going to issue an injunction against SSC Napoli, whereby the club is prohibited from selling tickets to Eintracht Frankfurt supporters for the Uefa Champions League round of 16-second leg on Wednesday March 15.” Additionally, this would include the 2,700 total away tickets that Eintracht Frankfurt is allowed to use under Uefa rules, 2,400 of which are in the away section.
Despite rumours that supporters of Serie A team Atalanta had joined them and purchased tickets on their behalf, several supporters nevertheless travelled.
