Summary
That has to go down as one of the strangest games I’ve ever seen. Juventus were SO dominant in the first half. Credit to Ancelotti: he changed things at half time, both to a 4-4-2 and with the introduction of Lozano and Mario Rui, and Napoli were reborn after the break.
Juventus absolutely crumbled – particularly De Ligt, which will be a real concern going forward with Chiellini’s injury – and after letting Napoli get back to 3-3, it took an extraordinary own goal to once again tilt the match in Juve’s favour.
For Napoli, this must feel so cruel. Juventus so rarely drop points, particularly at home, and a 3-3 draw would have felt so good, and given them real confidence going forward. Now, this feels like something that could hang over them – and Koulibaly in particular – for a while. The Senegalese is an exceptional player – I would have him in my Serie A XI personally – but this is a crushing psychological blow. Perhaps the international break is coming at just the right time. He can go away, reset, come back for the game against Sampdoria on the 15 September and Napoli’s Champions League tie against Liverpool two days later.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. See you next time.
It’s fair to say that two clubs had a slightly different reaction to that goal.
90+2' | ⚽️ | GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KOULIBALY TURNS INTO HIS OWN NET FROM A FREE-KICK!!!!!!!!!!#JuveNapoli [4-3] #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/UA3YDZJg1g
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) August 31, 2019
⏱ 90+2@juventusfc take the lead through @kkoulibaly26's own goal
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) August 31, 2019
⚽️ #JuventusNapoli 4-3
💙 #ForzaNapoliSempre
Full-time: Juventus 4-3 Napoli
Koulibaly slumps to the turf. Hands over his eyes. Play had barely restarted before the referee calls him. Juventus have won one of the most extraordinary matches.
Updated
GOAL! Juventus 4-3 Napoli (Koulibaly og 90+2)
Juventus have scored. Koulibaly has just scored an own goal for the ages. To deny Napoli one of the greatest comebacks of recent years. It’s an absolutely spectacular winner. From the foul on Dybala, a loft ball is hoisted forward. Koulibaly, under no pressure whatsoever, shanks his clearance into his own net, hitting him somewhere on the shin and flying right into the top corner. I think you could cross the ball 1,000 times, and Koulibaly wouldn’t make the same mistake. I’m genuinely shook. What scenes in Turin! The crowd are going absolutely mental!
Kalidou Koulibaly with an own goal in stoppage time! 🤯
— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) August 31, 2019
You couldn't make it up 😳
UNBELIEVABLE!!#SerieA pic.twitter.com/2OH13SUrlU
Updated
90 min: Three minutes added on here. Elmas is given a yellow card for bringing down Dybala. Up come the cavalry from the back.
89 min: Douglas Costaaaaaaaaaa … just over. The Brazilian picks up the loose ball just inside Napoli’s box, steadies himself and curls a shot inches over the bar. Meret didn’t move. That was a certain goal, if he kept it down.
88 min: Juventus have finally started to get a bit of a foothold again.
87 min: I hope Sarri is OK. Just imagine what his heart rate must be doing right now.
85 min: Since half-time, De Ligt has had a mare. A completely different performance to the first half, when he was composed and relaxed. Juventus are really missing Chiellini.
Updated
83 min: Douglas Costa picks up a yellow card for a forearm to block off Mario Rui. Juventus are rattled.
GOAL! Juventus 3-3 Napoli (Di Lorenzo 81)
They’ve done it! The comeback is complete! Again, it’s a set piece that is Juventus’ undoing. From the free-kick, Zielinksi lofts a ball up to the back post. De Ligt is caught flatfooted, and Di Lorenzo thighs it Szczęsny from close range!
Updated
80 min: De Ligt does come back on, but doesn’t look right. He instantly falls over in front of Lozano, who is then felled by Alex Sandro. The Brazilian gets a yellow card, that was a cynical challenge to stop the pacy Mexican from running clear.
78 min: Looks like De Ligt has a problem, which is a big problem for Juve, as they have used all their subs. Is it just cramp? The Dutchman is taking on some fluids and gels, and looks like he’s going to try and come back on. If he doesn’t, Juventus will have just 10 men.
75 min: Juventus can’t get hold of the ball. Napoli are making all the running. Elmas, a 19-year-old signed from Fenerbahce in the summer, has showed some very tidy touches since coming on.
73 min: Both sides make a change: Elif Elmas on, Allan off for Napoli. Higuain off, Paulo Dybala on for Juventus. There are basically no defensive midfielders left. This is crazy.
70 min: WHAT. A. SAVE. This is surely a contender for save of the season from Meret. Douglas Costa was all alone on the edge of Napoli’s box, took aim and arrowed a fierce drive right in the top corner. The ball was headed right into postage-stamp territory, before Meret tips it onto the bar!
GOAL! Juventus 3-2 Napoli (Lozano 68)
Game on? Game on! Really, really, really strange defending from De Ligt. Zielinski broke down the left, looked up and saw Lozano completely free in the box. De Ligt was just jogging and allowed the Mexican to run clear. A low cross came in and Lozano simply sidefooted the ball past Szczęsny! We have a real game on our hands now!
Updated
GOAL! Juventus 3-1 Napoli (Manolas 66)
A ray of hope for Napoli! A simple free-kick is lofted into the box, Manolas loses his man and plants a header into the far corner. Game on?
Updated
64 min: Douglas Costa has been the best player on the pitch tonight. The Brazilian and Gonzalo Higuain have really impressed. Matuidi, on a yellow card, catches Allan. He’s got to be careful.
GOAL! Juventus 3-0 Napoli (Ronaldo 63)
Douglas Costa drives to the byline, cuts the ball back to the penalty spot and Ronaldo sweeps it in with his left foot! It wasn’t the cleanest strike, bouncing into the corner, but it was still out of the reach of Meret. That’s probably the match, isn’t it?
Updated
60 min: Juventus make their second change: Khedira off, Emre Can on. You have to wonder what Rabiot and Bentancur are thinking. There is so much competition for those midfield spots at Juventus. And they’ve still got Aaron Ramsey to come back from injury.
59 min: Manolas is penalised for careering into Ronaldo on Napoli’s byline. Clumsy, and Pjanic has a dangerous free kick to the left of Napoli’s box. But it’s a poor delivery.
57 min: Juventus are looking a little bit lethargic in midfield. Zielinski is finding pockets of space as he comes off that left flank. Mertens forces Szczęsny into a save. Koulibaly makes a strong challenge on Douglas Costa (which was probably a foul). But Napoli are looking a lot better.
55 min: Good save from Meret! It’s one he really should make, at a nice height, but it was powerfully struck, right in the corner. Corner to Juventus, cleared at the near post.
53 min: Yellow card for Matuidi, as he protests a little too vehemently at the referee.
Dybala, meanwhile, is warming up along the touchline, and gets a round of applause from the Juve fans.
52 min: Callejon, who is now wearing the armband after the departure of Insigne, looks as though he fouled Matuidi but the referee waves play on. For a second, Napoli have a man over at the edge of Juventus’ box, and Mertens flashes a shot just wide! Better from the visitors.
50 min: Napoli immediately look a lot more robust defensively with this new 4-4-2 system and are starting to make inroads going forward, too. Zielinski tries his luck but his left-foot shot is weak.
48 min: Amazing how quickly your stock can rise and fall over a summer. Last season, Higuain couldn’t get in the Chelsea side – now he’s leading the line for Juventus, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Douglas Costa either side of him, and has probably been the most decisive player tonight.
Updated
46 min: So I think Napoli are lining up now in a 4-4-2, with Lozano and Mertens up top, and Zielinski moving to left midfield, with Fabian and Allan in the middle.
Indeed Lozano IS coming on! For Insigne, who apparently has a slight knock. Chucky makes his debut.
Updated
Napoli look like they’re making at least one change for the second half. Mario Rui is on for Ghoulam, who was on a yellow card and pulled out of a 50/50 challenge at the end of that first half. Lozano is also warming up, but it’s unclear as to whether he’s coming on now or later.
Half-time reading
I’m off to get a cuppa, and to think about that Higuain pass to Khedira.
Half-time: Juventus 2-0 Napoli
Entertaining stuff. Would love to be a fly on the wall of Napoli’s dressing room. Tactically they’ve been all over the place, but they still carry a threat of course with Mertens and Insigne. I would love to see Lozano in the second half.
45+1 min: This is an incredibly open match. The quality in the final third has generally been poor from both teams, but Higuain and Costa have been the difference.
44 min: Di Lorenzo is the next into the book for a late tackle on Alex Sandro. The right back knows that was a bad challenge, grimaces and holds his hands up in apology. Yellow.
42 min: Ancelotti has long this tactical battle so far. Napoli don’t have a discernible shape, in possession or not. That said, the game is quite open, and fair end to end. First Ronaldo drives into the box, but loses his footing under the challenge of Callejon. No penalty. Then Napoli stream forward, it’s three on four – Insigne tries to work some space on the edge, but a magnificent standing tackle from Bonucci dispossesses the tiny Napoli forward.
40 min: Yellow card for Ghoulam, who trips Costa with an pretty ugly-looking tackle on Juventus’s right wing.
38 min: De Ligt looks like he’s been playing in this side for a decade. So composed on the ball.
36 min: Napoli started to play a little better now, Fabian and Zielinski have finally started stringing some passes together.
34 min: Another stoppage, as Bonucci receives further treatment for that cut. There’s a fair bit of blood, but he should be OK to carry on.
33 min: Napoli just can’t deal with Juventus’s high press. Zielinski is going spare in the middle of the pitch as he tries to organise his teammates.
31 min: Khedira now hits the underside of the bar! Napoli are living a charmed life here, and lucky that Khedira’s shot wasn’t an inch lower. The ball cannons off the crossbar, just avoids the despairing Meret and Koulibaly hacks it clear!
29 min: Golden chance for Khedira! Oooooo, what a save from Meret, who is brave at diving at the German’s feet to deflect it over for a corner. This all came about due to one of the most outrageous passes from Higuain. I genuinely have no idea how the Argentinian saw the run of Khedira, who was completely on Higuain’s blindside – must have got a shout. Still, that is one of the passes of the season. If Juve go three up, you’d have to say that would be curtains for Napoli.
25 min: Pjanic is starting to pull the strings in midfield. Juventus are looking the dominant side now, as Ronaldo starts to get some tricks and flicks out.
23 min: We’ve got a stoppage in play, with Bonucci going down in a heap after jumping with Koulibaly at a corner. Replays show that Koulibaly did catch Bonucci with an elbow, with the Italian is all too keen to convey to the referee. It was probably accidental. Probably. In any case, there is no card brandished and the bleeding Bonucci is OK to continue, after a bit of treatment.
21 min: A nightmare start for Napoli, then. It’s a long road back now.
GOAL! Juventus 2-0 Napoli (Higuain 19)
It had to be him! Higuain, who hasn’t had a sniff so far this evening, scores a sensational goal against his former side. Again it was Juventus down the left, this time with Matuidi, and the Frenchman against squares the ball inside the Napoli box. Higuain kills the ball, spins on a sixpence to leave Koulibaly clutching thin air, and lashes it into the top corner. Wow! Wow! Wow! That is an assassin’s finish. Higuain had THREE defenders around him and still carved some space out in the box.
Updated
VAR check: the officials are just making sure that this didn’t hit a Juventus hand prior to their counter-attack. Fabian had a shot at goal, but it hit Bonucci on the neck/shoulder. Goal given!
GOAL! Juventus 1-0 Napoli (Danilo 16)
Thirty seconds after coming on, Danilo scores his first Juventus goal! Straight from the corner, Juventus break in numbers. Costa carries the ball the length of the pitch on the left wing, breaks into the box, chops inside and squares it perfectly to Danilo, who was up in support. A first-time shot hits Meret, but deflects into the net! What an introduction!
It's taken Danilo just 26 seconds to score on his debut! 🤯
— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) August 31, 2019
What a counter attack! 🔥#SerieA pic.twitter.com/PEaBwj9EFm
Updated
15 min: De Sciglio looks like he’s got a problem, he’s going to have to be replaced! Unclear as to why. Danilo comes on his place. Straight swap.
14 min: Great save from Szczęsny! This so easily could have been 1-0, with Allan taking aim from the edge of the box. The former Arsenal keeper got just one hand to it, but turned it around the post.
13 min: Juventus have probably shaded the opening exchanges. Most of their play has come down the right, and Costa breaks forward once more. Koulibaly is caught up the pitch, but a poor De Sciglio cross and excellent covering from Allan means Juventus’s attack breaks down.
11 min: I don’t think Higuain has touched the ball yet.
9 min: Which is the better centre-back partnership? Bonucci and De Ligt or Manolas and Koulibaly? It’s a close one, but I probably just prefer the Napoli pair, mainly because they’ve both got pace to burn.
7 min: Both De Sciglio and Costa on Juventus right wing have started very strongly. Insigne and Ghoulam look a little rusty.
Updated
5 min: Matuidi neatly flicks the ball onto Ronaldo, who is forced wide but unleashes a ridiculous thwack at goal. The ball flies at 80mph right at Meret, who is able to palm it away. That was travelling, Ronaldo’s first sighter.
Updated
4 min: Can you marry a tackle? Ronaldo drops deep and finds some space for the first time, but loses the ball as Koulibaly makes an inch-perfect slide on the Portuguese. Hard, but fair.
3 min: Looks like Napoli are lining up with a back three when they have the ball, and a back four when Juventus have it.
1 min: The Juventus fans shout Chiellini’s name, and the Italian defender just about gets to his feet to accept the acclaim.
Peeeeeeeeep! And we’re off.
So no Sarri in the dugout, although he is somewhere in the stadium, probably chain smoking.
Chiellini is here, sitting in the stands with his crutches, and with his leg heavily strapped.
Bonucci and Insigne shake hands at the toss. There’s a full foot between them in height. The two are good friends from the national side and were joking in the tunnel a few moments ago.
Updated
The teams are out! Juventus in their black and white, Napoli in their royal blue.
Please do get in touch, via email on michael.butler@theguardian.com on Twitter @michaelbutler18.
Remember, the transfer window is still open in Italy. That closes Monday night, and rumours are that Napoli are going to add Fernando Llorente to their squad.
Nicky Bandini started her first Serie A blog of the season talking about Napoli’s sensational 4-3 win over Fiorentina. It was some game.
Highlights are here. It had it all: Twenty-five-yard screamers, controversial penalties, Kevin-Prince Boateng. The LOT.
Sarri is in the house! Although it’s not clear if he will watch from the stands or from the dugout.
Maurizio Sarri has arrived at the Allianz!#JuveNapoli #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/WyET8LEb3H
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) August 31, 2019
We’ve had one other Serie A match today, Milan v Brescia. This is how it went down, courtesy of Reuters.
AC Milan coach Marco Giampaolo earned his first win at the club as Hakan Calhanoglu struck early to clinch a 1-0 home victory over Brescia in Serie A on Saturday.
The 18-times Italian champions failed to muster a single shot on target when they fell to a shock 1-0 defeat away to Udinese on the opening weekend.
Yet Calhanoglu’s headed goal after 12 minutes settled the nerves of the San Siro crowd and proved to be decisive in a cagey encounter.
Milan take on another newly-promoted side when they travel to Hellas Verona after the international break.
The teams!
As expected, De Ligt starts, but Gonzalo Higuín continues to be preferred to Paolo Dybala, much to the frustration of many Juve fans.
📝 LINE-UP | Here's our Starting XI for #JuveNapoli! ⚪️⚫️
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) August 31, 2019
💺 SUBS | Pinsoglio, Buffon, Rugani, Demiral, Danilo, Emre Can, Rabiot, Bentancur, Cuadrado, Bernardeschi, Dybala, Mandzukic.#FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/XByAgC28Bc
Napoli are more or less as expected – Gholam is preferred to Mario Rui at left back. Watch out for Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano on the bench. This is his first involvement in a Napoli squad since his £34.4m move from PSV Eindhoven. He’s a special player.
📌 StartingXI: Meret, Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Koulibaly, Ghoulam, Allan, Zielinski, Callejon, Fabian, Insigne, Mertens.
— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) August 31, 2019
⚽️ #JuventusNapoli
🇮🇹 @SerieA
💙 #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/HZvMqduspe
Preamble
Italy has many derbies, and because the Italians are a romantic sort, and their culture is a constant reference point to history, many of them have some splendid nicknames. The Derby della Lanterna between Genoa and Sampdoria is derived from the Torre della Lanterna, the ancient landmark in Genoa. The Derby della Madonnina is named after the statue that sits atop of Milan’s cathedral. The Derby della Scala, between Chievo and Hellas Verona, refers to the Scaligeri or della Scala aristocratic family, who were rulers of Verona during the Middle Ages and early Renaissance.
Juventus v Napoli doesn’t have a name. But few would argue that this (and the reverse fixture in Naples) are the highlights of the Serie A calendar, featuring the two best football teams in Italy.
There are many questions to be answered tonight. Will Maurizio Sarri return to the dugout, following his bout of pneumonia? If he does, what sort of reception will he receive from the travelling Napoli fans – this is his first encounter with them since he left the southern club for Chelsea just over a year ago.
Sarri, who has continued smoking cigarettes through his recovery – which saw him miss Juventus’s 1-0 win over Parma on the opening weekend – could hand Matthijs de Ligt his full debut tonight, following the awful news that Giorgio Chiellini has ruptured his ACL ligament. The Italian defender will require surgery and should be out for around six months, which is a huge blow for the champions. That said, De Ligt and Bonucci at the back ain’t too bad.
Two seasons ago, Napoli won this fixture and looked as though they would go on to claim their first Serie A title since the days of Diego. That wasn’t to be in the end, and Juventus’s dominance has continued. Napoli are desperate to knock them off their perch. This is a prime opportunity, with their opponents reeling from injury and illness.
Kick off: 7.45pm BST, 8.45pm in Turin
