After such sharp focus in midweek, the relentlessness of the Serie A calendar meant that the focus for almost everyone else had to quickly turn to the battle for the Champions League places and the relegation fight at the bottom which is hotting up nicely.
That statement could not be less true if you are a fan of Napoli, though. The party began in both Naples and Udine on Thursday (and everywhere else in the world, it seemed), and it has continued in Naples right through until the Matchday 34 clash with Fiorentina.
On-pitch action takes a back seat for Napoli
Horns were blaring throughout the game at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and to be quite frank, the action on the pitch felt largely irrelevant. It was shown early in the second half when Victor Osimhen saw a penalty be saved by Pietro Terracciano. The volume in the ground stayed exactly the same and the horns kept blaring. The goal would have been nice, but the party didn’t need it.
With Napoli being out of the Coppa Italia and the Champions League, all Luciano Spalletti and his players need to do now is fulfil the final few Serie A fixtures and maybe pick up a few more individual records along the way.
Whilst they’d rather finish the season with more swashbuckling performances, it really doesn’t matter in the bigger picture. This time has done something that hadn’t been done for 33 years and their fans will be forever grateful.
The Partenopei did eventually get the goal they needed to add some gloss to their day, with Osimhen stepping up for another penalty and this time converting. The 1-0 win means nothing in a sporting sense, but it is just another reason for the party to keep on going in Naples.
Amrabat let-off sums up his 2023 so far
One of the huge names in the January transfer window was Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat. The Moroccan was one of the star players for his national team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He helped Morocco reach the semi-finals and eventually finish fourth, their best-ever result at a World Cup, and the best ever for an African team.
Liverpool appeared to be extremely keen to bring him in during the winter, as did a host of other Premier League clubs and some of the better teams in Serie A. Fiorentina stood firm and Amrabat decided to see out the season.
His influence for La Viola has waned, though, and their upturn in form over the past couple of months is not particularly down to his performances. That was summed up early in the second half when he reacted poorly to a loose pass put from Terracciano and then clumsily hauled Stanislav Lobotka down in the box to give away a penalty. His blushes were spared thanks to Osimhen’s miss.
