The Match
Live coverage on ITV4
Napoli are under more pressure than you'd expect given their league position, continued involvement in Europe and the fact they recently qualified for the Coppa Italia final. Conceding a late equaliser at home to Genoa on Monday is reported to have gone down like a lead balloon - no doubt in part due to the player who scored the equalising free-kick actually being on loan from Napoli! Mad. Either way, they've fallen behind in the race for automatic Champions League qualification (occupying the playoff spot), and failure to beat a Swansea team - who until last week most Napoli fans would probably have viewed as vastly inferior - will be unacceptable.
Swansea have nothing to lose. They somehow contrived to not score in the home leg of the fixture but the almost complete domination of their illustrious Italian counterparts saw them keep a clean sheet which is priceless heading into the second leg. Against Liverpool on the weekend the team again performed admirably, and another repeat performance could well be enough to see them over the line. For me, the longer the game stays at 0-0 the nervier the Italians will surely get, because if we score they'll then need to score twice to win the game. That's the beauty of the situation the Swans are in - we don't have to win the game to win the tie. Undoubtedly though, Garry Monk will be rallying his troops and aiming for what would possibly be the biggest away win in the history of Swansea City.
Prior Form (Most recent at top)
Team News
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Napoli will be without goalkeeper Rafael, who somehow managed to do his ACL against the Swans last time out - it's never nice to see someone hit with a nasty injury, so good luck to him. Pepe Reina will continue in goal in his absence, though whether you think that's a good thing depends how much you watched Liverpool in the past. Elsewhere the internet seems to tell me Napoli have a fully fit squad - either that or my googling leaves something to be desired.
Swansea have a fairly full complement of players to choose from, even if some of them have played a lot of football over the last few weeks. Ben Davies (calf) & Kyle Bartley (hamstring) are both approaching full fitness but it's likely that Taylor will continue to deputise for his compatriot. Michu is surely near a return from ankle and knee problems but is again unlikely to feature, while Pozuelo has a niggling hip injury which has kept him out of contention for a few games now. Jonjo Shelvey failed to appear for the second half at Anfield last time out, and seems set to miss out on this one too.
Completely guessed lineups
Statistics & Trivia
- Swansea have failed to score in their last three Europa League matches, and haven't won in their last five.
- Napoli are unbeaten in their eight home European matches against teams from England, Wales and Scotland (W6 D2), excluding qualifiers.
- Swansea have won two of their 12 away matches in European competition (D1 L9), excluding qualifiers.
- Napoli have conceded 14 goals in their last 15 home European matches (excluding qualifiers), during which time they have kept seven clean sheets
- Swansea have failed to take a lead into half-time in their last 18 matches in all competitions, going on to win four of those games.
- Swansea haven't won in five in Europe, scoring two goals in the process, and can qualify for the last 16 without winning - and possibly without even scoring. Outstanding.
Straight from the horse's mouth
Leon Britton knows that one goal could be enough to see us into the next round:
“We are pleased that we didn’t concede at home. The advantage we have now is that even one goal in Naples could take us through to the next round.
“We believe we can get through to the last sixteen of the Europa League.”
http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2014/02/britton-believes-swansea-can-progress-against-napoli/?
Rafa Benitez watched the Swans in action against his old club Liverpool, and knows Napoli are in for a stern test:
"Swansea played a great game against Liverpool in the weekend’s Premier League fixtures, despite losing a very close contest.
"They could make things very difficult. We must be prepared to go the distance."
http://uk.soccerway.com/news/2014/February/25/uefa-europa-league-preview-napoli-v-swansea-city/
Analysis
It comes down to this then. The chance to secure progression to the last 16 of the Europa League, where we'd arguably be met with weaker opposition (Eintracht Frankfurt or Porto), comes down to ninety minutes, or one hundred and twenty minutes, or one hundred and twenty minutes plus penalties. Cup competitions keep you on your toes eh? Benitez is a famously good manager when it comes to one-off cup ties, however he's already been done once by a Swansea team which contained most of the same players, so he'll know the magnitude of the task he's facing.
Napoli never really got going at the Liberty, and that's the big danger for the Swans. The Italians are the second highest scorers in Seria A, but have a leaky defence and if we play like we did in the home leg it'll be a miracle if the Italians keep a clean sheet. We need to draw the sting out of the home team, weather the storm, before hitting them on the break.
The timing of the first goal in this match is absolutely massive. If we score in the first half an hour, Napoli have time to recover before half time. If we score just before half time though, or especially just after, then all of a sudden the pressure on Napoli gets ramped up massively, and the crowd will start to get on their back. Given they already know they need to win this game (unless they're happy to play for penalties and a 0-0) they're likely to come at us from the off - if they're chasing the game on top of that we could well get opportunities to counter.
I really fancy this one. All the pressure is on Napoli, we're back in our favoured role as the underdog and we've already shown we can dominate our opponents. We've got nothing to lose, and if Garry Monk can mastermind a famous away victory it'll undoubtedly do his chances of landing the job permanently no harm. Too right, too.
Good luck to anyone travelling to Naples today, and fingers crossed you'll have something to sing about on the way home. Personally, I quite fancy a 1-1 draw, but obviously I'd take a win. Come on you Swans!