Napoli Rue VAR Decision After UCL Exit As Juventus Beat Them To Club World Cup Spot
Written By Onyeka Daniel
Napoli were left to rue their hard luck after exiting the UEFA Champions League in the hands of Spanish side, Barcelona, and It was a night of regrets for the Partenopei at the Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic. They were let down by defensive errors which allowed Fermin Lopez and Joao Cancelo to surge into a 2-0 lead with two goals in 120 seconds.
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But their manager, Francesco Calzona ‘cannot understand why the VAR would not intervene’ on a ‘clear penalty’ for Napoli, but admits they made it easier for Barcelona with errors. Amir Rrahmani managed to get the Partenopei back into it, and Jesper Lindstrom missed a huge opportunity to equalise with a free header wide, followed moments later by Robert Lewandowski tapping in for 3-1.
“Clearly, there is disappointment, because we came here trying to win the game. We had a very bad start, lost the ball an infinite number of times and you will pay when you allow so many counter-attacks to a side like this,” Calzona told Sport Mediaset after the game.
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“It was very different in the first leg, I had only got there the day before and it was difficult to organise something. Barcelona are a strong team, but we gave the ball away too cheaply and once we managed to fix a few of those issues, we were already 2-0 down.
“We were too spread out and too slow to react when losing the ball. The only excuse is that we did not have much time to work on these things in training, but it’s true that every time we lost the ball, we were also wide and allowed Barcelona dangerous counter-attacks.” Mathias Olivera also hit the woodwork late on, while Victor Osimhen had penalty appeals rejected when Pau Cubarsi seemed to tread on his foot.
“Looking at the footage, it does seem to be a penalty. I cannot understand why the VAR at these levels would not intervene in a situation like that. They should take all the time necessary to come to the right decision. It looks like a clear penalty and that could’ve changed the course of the game. “I always talk about preventative marking when you are in possession and we did not do that well this evening, as we were too spread out and I didn’t like that.
“We also had chances to equalise, but changing system late on, we lost our shape. This is a team that struggles when changing system and needs certainty. It’s frustrating that we do not have the time to work on different approaches in training.” Calzona surprised by replacing the impressive Politano with Lindstrom, so why did he make that choice?
“I substituted Politano because he was tired. I have quality players on the bench and wanted to keep Barcelona under pressure in their own half. There was a period where they were suffering and I needed fresh legs to press them. “Matteo had a very good game this evening, that was the only reason.” He further added.
This was the first defeat for Calzona on the Napoli bench after two wins and three draws in all competitions and the odds of qualifying for this tournament again next season are extremely unlikely. They will have to put this defeat behind them quickly as they will be facing Inter Milan this weekend in the Italian Serie A.
Meanwhile…
They are already out of the Club World Cup, as this elimination sends Juventus into the FIFA tournament along with Inter. The Partenopei had attempted several legal avenues to force Juve out of their way, but FIFA reiterated last week that Juve remained in pole position.
Read Also: Aurelio De Laurentiis And Napoli Continue Their Row With The Media Despite Recent Fine
President Aurelio De Laurentiis had hoped to get Juventus excluded based on the financial irregularities that saw them removed from UEFA competition this season. Despite not being in the Champions League this term, Juve still accrued enough points to beat Napoli to that spot following the 3-1 loss to Barcelona, 4-2 on aggregate.
Inter have already secured their spot in the 32-team tournament, which will be hosted every four years involving clubs across the globe. The first edition of this new format will be played in the United States in June 2025, with eight groups of four teams.
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