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Massimiliano Allegri · Napoli · Kevin De Bruyne · Serie A

Allegri's Napoli have 10 points from 7: the start that got Donadoni sacked

By the Data Desk · ·

Napoli had 29 shots in Venice on Saturday, 10 of them on target, and lost 1-0 to a side that had lost all six of its games and was playing its first match under Davide Nicola. It leaves Massimiliano Allegri on 10 points from seven Serie A games, which Tuttosport calls Napoli's worst start in 17 years: the only worse one since was 2009-10, when Roberto Donadoni had 7 and was sacked.

  • Venezia 1-0 Napoli: Akor Adams scored on a fast break in the 49th minute, and Filip Stanković saved a penalty from substitute Kevin De Bruyne midway through the second half. Venezia made 9 saves; Napoli had 71% of the ball and 12 corners (ESPN).
  • Napoli are ninth with 10 points, 9 behind leaders Inter. It is their third league defeat, after Como and Inter, and their fifth in nine games in all competitions, a run Tuttosport and Football Italia say Napoli last had in 2001-02, in Serie B under Luigi De Canio.
  • Allegri after the game: "Non ho sentito De Laurentiis" (I have not spoken to De Laurentiis), and "essere preoccupati non serve a niente" (being worried is no use).
Why it mattersNapoli now play Bodø/Glimt on Tuesday and Roma on Saturday, both in Naples, with 0 points from two Champions League games and a coach whose start is being measured against a sacking. Nobody has reported that Napoli plan to change coach, but the next five days will set the tone of his season.

Tuttosport's numbers put the start in a long line. After seven games Napoli had 15 points last season under Antonio Conte, 16 the year before, 14 under Rudi Garcia in 2023-24 and 17 under Luciano Spalletti in the title year. Calcionapoli24 adds that Edy Reja's Napoli also had 10 in 2007-08, which makes this the joint second-worst start of the Aurelio De Laurentiis era, behind Donadoni's 7.

Allegri's reading was that his team did enough to win. "Abbiamo creato molto e fatto qualche errore dietro" (we created a lot and made a few mistakes at the back), he told DAZN, as reported by Tuttosport, and he added that "in questo momento la squadra psicologicamente può subire" (right now the team can suffer psychologically). He also said Napoli had conceded "al primo tiro", with the first shot. Football Italia notes it was Napoli's first top-flight defeat by Venezia since the 1940s.

Behind the scenes, the noise is around De Bruyne. Before kick-off, sporting director Giovanni Manna called talk of a rift between the Belgian and Allegri "chiacchiere da bar" (bar talk) on DAZN, Corriere dello Sport reported, and said "De Bruyne è un campione e se sta bene può giocare dove vuole" (De Bruyne is a champion and, if he is fit, he can play wherever he wants). De Bruyne started on the bench, came on in the 54th minute and missed the penalty.

What happens next: Napoli v Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League on Tuesday, 20 October, at 21:00 Italian time, then Roma, second in Serie A with 17 points and 3 goals conceded, at the Maradona on Saturday, 24 October (18:00).

Our take

We said three minutes. Venezia make it a pattern

Four days ago we called Villarreal a three-minute lapse in concentration, and we were too kind. Napoli lost again with 29 shots, 10 on target and 71% of the ball against the bottom side, and five defeats in nine games is a pattern, not a bad night. The league problem is not the defence (7 conceded in seven games) but the goals: 10 in seven, against Inter's 21. Two wins at home against Bodø/Glimt and Roma would turn the Donadoni comparison back into a statistic; anything less, and the pressure the Italian press describes stops being talk.

Allegri after Villarreal: "Defending has become almost a disgrace" →Our Villarreal v Napoli analysis →Football news →
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Updates

  1. Allegri's week now has two dates: Bodø/Glimt at the Maradona in the Champions League on Tuesday, 20 October, at 19:00 UTC, with Napoli on 0 points after two games, and Roma on Sunday. Calciomercato.com, as relayed by Goal, names Vincenzo Montella, sacked by Turkey on 9 October, as an option if the club changes coach; nothing is official and Aurelio De Laurentiis said before Villarreal that he had "never had doubts" about Allegri.
  2. Bodø/Glimt is tonight at 19:00 UTC, and the Italian press now frames it as a test for the coach. La Repubblica writes that Allegri has tied his fate to this week's two games at the Maradona ("il suo destino alle due sfide ravvicinate di questa settimana al Maradona", via CalcioNapoli24), Il Mattino reports a long dinner between Allegri and Aurelio De Laurentiis on the eve of the game, and Il Napolista expects a return to a back four. Alisson Santos is out again: Napoli said tests found a medium-grade strain of the left biceps femoris, the injury that stopped him on 9 September, and Corriere dello Sport estimates five to six weeks. A correction to yesterday's update: Roma come to the Maradona on Saturday, 24 October, at 16:00 UTC, not Sunday (ESPN).
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