Inter and Napoli Showdown Gives Mazzarri and Benitez Reason to Sweat

How quickly a fresh season full of optimism can descend into an exercise in damage limitation. It is survival, rather than expansion, that has been occupying the minds of Walter Mazzarri and Rafael Benitez during the international break from club football.

The distance that Inter and Napoli are from leaders Juventus—10 and eight points respectively—is largely irrelevant, despite any suggestions to the contrary. What really matters ahead of Sunday night’s meeting at the Giuseppe Meazza is that the pair are already six and four points behind Sampdoria in the third and final Champions League spot.

Inter should be going into this match with puffed chests, sensing an opportunity to claw their way back onto Serie A’s podium. They garnered eight points in the opening four matches of the Serie A season, conceding just one goal in the process. One week before the pause changed all of that.

Humiliating defeats at home to Cagliari (4-1) and at a previously stuttering Fiorentina (3-0) left Mazzarri’s plans in tatters, and his status severely compromised. Many wondered—and are still wondering—whether the decision of owner Erick Thohir to extend the coach’s contract in the summer was the correct one.

“Fortunately, it's early on in the campaign and we can change the trend,” Mazzarri said to Gazzetta dello Sport after the defeat at the Artemio Franchi, as per Sky Sports, but his general circumspection post-match (“whatever I say will be misinterpreted”) made it clear that he knows exactly how much danger he is in. That Udinese, bossed by former Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni, are five points clear of the Nerazzurri in fourth place, has not escaped notice either.

Had Inter been in more robust shape, they might have seen Napoli—last season’s third-placed side—as an opportunity to be taken. Only just managing to process their Champions League exit to Athletic Bilbao, one of the division’s most bold sides have been uncharacteristically fragile.

Napoli have scored just eight goals in six games to date. The miserable defeat at Stramaccioni’s Udinese three weeks ago briefly looked as if it could be the tipping point for Benitez but even if it wasn’t, it underlined exactly why he divides opinion.

Salvatore Laporta/Associated Press

The Partenopei managed just three shots on target at the Friuli on that grey Sunday afternoon, showing little attacking initiative. It was a situation made all the more infuriating as Dries Mertens, Marek Hamsik and Jose Callejon (Napoli’s top scorer) were on the bench. Gonzalo Higuain, who can never be accused of not pulling his weight, has cut a frustrated figure, and is yet to score in Serie A this term.

As it stands, the expense involved in changing coaches might just save Mazzarri for now. Either of the two most high-profile available choices, Luciano Spalletti and Roberto Mancini, would command yearly wages north of €3 million. It is perhaps worth reiterating at this point that only a free agent or a coach from abroad would come into the picture, with Serie A prohibiting any coach from heading two different clubs during the same season.

The boot appears to be on the other foot for Benitez, with recent speculation—recounted here by Football Italia—suggesting that the Spanish coach wants a pledge of significant transfer funds from owner Aurelio De Laurentiis before agreeing a new deal. Inter’s Yann M’Vila, as well as Lyon captain Maxime Gonalons, were two of the midfielders Benitez wanted earlier this year that slipped through the net.

It is clear what Napoli need to do going into Sunday—rediscover their ambitious side to go for the throat against a team with brittle confidence. For Inter, the plan could be similar; with Mauro Icardi and Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, they are always more convincing in attack than in defence. Positivity is needed to avoid a repeat of the restless atmosphere experienced against Qarabag in the Europa League, the match between those two league defeats.

As these pair of giants look to start again, being aggressive is the only way. We will see on Sunday night who the biggest characters in their ranks really are.