Napoli's Gonzalo Higuain (L) challenges AS Roma's Kostas Manolas during their Italian Serie A soccer match at San Paolo stadium in Naples, November 1, 2014. PHOTO: REUTERS
While Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli have lost only one game — 3-2 defeat by Bologna — since their 2-1 loss to Sassuolo back in August, Roma have not been able to register a win since their 2-0 win over Lazio on November 8 and have lost twice since then, including the 6-1 thrashing by Barcelona in the Champions League and the 2-0 loss to Atalanta in the league.
The fans and media have targeted Rudi Garcia’s men in the past few weeks, labelling the three-time Serie A winners, as a ‘weak’ side and the Frenchman has rounded on his critics ahead of the clash.
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“The way people are talking it’s as if the worst side in Italy is going to visit the best,” fumed Garcia in the pre-match press conference, according to FootballItalia.net. “I don’t read or listen to the media, but this vibe is reaching my ears anyway. People act as if we’ve already lost. We can overturn expectations and have done before.”
Garcia urged supporters to keep believing in the team as they are capable of a turnaround.
“It’s true we are struggling, but we also played some great games,” he said. “We are not like lambs to the slaughter; we are going in order to get a positive result. Not everything is going well, but it’s not going that badly either.”
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Meanwhile, Napoli winger Lorenzo Insigne says he wants to emulate Roma legend Francesco Totti and become a legend for the Naples outfit.
“Totti is a great example for all Italian players. He always fought to defend the colours of his hometown club and that is my dream too,” the 24-year-old told FootballItalia.net. “I’d like to have the same journey at Napoli that Totti had with Roma.”
In other games, Roberto Mancini’s Inter Milan travel to Udinese, while Sinisa Mihajlovic’s AC Milan host Verona.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2015.
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