MILAN, Feb 24, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - If Napoli's players are looking over their
shoulders as they kick off the weekend's Serie A fixtures with a visit to
struggling Empoli, it should be not at the distant chasing pack but at coach
Luciano Spalletti.

Napoli head into Saturday's game having won seven straight in Serie A.

Their hosts are winless in their last four games. Victory would put Napoli 18
points clear of the chasing pack before their pursuers have even played.

After Napoli continued their dream season with a 2-0 victory in Frankfurt on
Tuesday in a Champions League round-of-16 first leg, Spalletti responded to
questions about whether his team were already through to the quarter-finals
by laying out a philosophy that applies equally to the league campaign.

"If I see my plyers thinking like that when we get home this evening, they
won't play," he said. "Conceit is the worst fault in players."

"We have to stay calm, very calm."

But, the grim-faced coach added: "I'm happy, even if I don't smile."

After years of agonising collapses and near misses, Napoli seem to be
cruising to their first Italian title since Diego Maradona led them to their
only two titles in 1988 and 1990.

If they complete the job against Frankfurt, Napoli will reach the last eight
of the Champions League for the first time.

They have dropped just seven points in 23 matches in Serie A. They have the
best attack and the best defence.

No wonder the players and the fans who support them at the Diego Armando
Stadium are excited.

"At the beginning of the season almost no one thought we could get to certain
levels, the team is playing a beautiful game," backup striker Alessio Zerbin
told Italian radio on Thursday.

"Seeing the Maradona always full, knowing that there are fans who travel
around Italy and Europe to be near us, gives us a huge boost."

The fixtures end on Tuesday with a Turin derby which gives Torino a rare
chance to move above Juventus, who have dropped to seventh after a 15-point
deduction, just two ahead of their neighbours.

Key stats

2.6956: The number of points Napoli are averaging after 23 rounds. If they
keep that up, they will finish with 102, matching the record total for a 20-
team big-five European league set by Juventus in 2013-14.

41 years 25 days: Alessandro Costacurta's age when he struck for Milan in
2007 making him the oldest scorer in Serie A. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who turned
41 in October during a long injury layoff, has been an unused substitute in
Milan's last two Serie A games. When he scores his next goal he will also
overtake Italy great Silvio Piola, who was 40 years 4 months and nine days
old when he struck for Novara in 1954.

Player to watch: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

Napoli's dazzling attacking play has made them a team to watch and at the
heart of it is the mesmerising creative play of the 21-year-old Georgian who
has soared in his first season in Serie A. He is the league's fourth-best
scorer with 10 and also leads the league in assists with nine. In Frankfurt
on Tuesday he missed a penalty but then atoned with a highlight-reel assist,
a sharp no-look backheel to present Giovanni di Lorenzo with a clear shot
that the right back slotted home.

Fixtures (times GMT)

Saturday

Empoli v Napoli (1700), Lecce v Sassuolo (1945)

Sunday

Bologna v Inter Milan (1130), Salernitana v Monza (1400), Udinese v Spezia
(1700) AC Milan v Atalanta (1945)

Monday

Hellas Verona v Fiorentina (1730), Lazio v Sampdoria (1945)

Tuesday

Cremonese v Roma (1730), Juventus v Torino (1945)Spalletti warns Napoli to avoid conceit as end to title agony nears

MILAN, Feb 24, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - If Napoli's players are looking over their
shoulders as they kick off the weekend's Serie A fixtures with a visit to
struggling Empoli, it should be not at the distant chasing pack but at coach
Luciano Spalletti.

Napoli head into Saturday's game having won seven straight in Serie A.

Their hosts are winless in their last four games. Victory would put Napoli 18
points clear of the chasing pack before their pursuers have even played.

After Napoli continued their dream season with a 2-0 victory in Frankfurt on
Tuesday in a Champions League round-of-16 first leg, Spalletti responded to
questions about whether his team were already through to the quarter-finals
by laying out a philosophy that applies equally to the league campaign.

"If I see my plyers thinking like that when we get home this evening, they
won't play," he said. "Conceit is the worst fault in players."

"We have to stay calm, very calm."

But, the grim-faced coach added: "I'm happy, even if I don't smile."

After years of agonising collapses and near misses, Napoli seem to be
cruising to their first Italian title since Diego Maradona led them to their
only two titles in 1988 and 1990.

If they complete the job against Frankfurt, Napoli will reach the last eight
of the Champions League for the first time.

They have dropped just seven points in 23 matches in Serie A. They have the
best attack and the best defence.

No wonder the players and the fans who support them at the Diego Armando
Stadium are excited.

"At the beginning of the season almost no one thought we could get to certain
levels, the team is playing a beautiful game," backup striker Alessio Zerbin
told Italian radio on Thursday.

"Seeing the Maradona always full, knowing that there are fans who travel
around Italy and Europe to be near us, gives us a huge boost."

The fixtures end on Tuesday with a Turin derby which gives Torino a rare
chance to move above Juventus, who have dropped to seventh after a 15-point
deduction, just two ahead of their neighbours.

Key stats

2.6956: The number of points Napoli are averaging after 23 rounds. If they
keep that up, they will finish with 102, matching the record total for a 20-
team big-five European league set by Juventus in 2013-14.

41 years 25 days: Alessandro Costacurta's age when he struck for Milan in
2007 making him the oldest scorer in Serie A. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who turned
41 in October during a long injury layoff, has been an unused substitute in
Milan's last two Serie A games. When he scores his next goal he will also
overtake Italy great Silvio Piola, who was 40 years 4 months and nine days
old when he struck for Novara in 1954.

Player to watch: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

Napoli's dazzling attacking play has made them a team to watch and at the
heart of it is the mesmerising creative play of the 21-year-old Georgian who
has soared in his first season in Serie A. He is the league's fourth-best
scorer with 10 and also leads the league in assists with nine. In Frankfurt
on Tuesday he missed a penalty but then atoned with a highlight-reel assist,
a sharp no-look backheel to present Giovanni di Lorenzo with a clear shot
that the right back slotted home.

Fixtures (times GMT)

Saturday

Empoli v Napoli (1700), Lecce v Sassuolo (1945)

Sunday

Bologna v Inter Milan (1130), Salernitana v Monza (1400), Udinese v Spezia
(1700) AC Milan v Atalanta (1945)

Monday

Hellas Verona v Fiorentina (1730), Lazio v Sampdoria (1945)

Tuesday

Cremonese v Roma (1730), Juventus v Torino (1945)