Napoli sack Mazzarri two days to Champions League clash vs Barcelona
Super Eagles star Victor Osimhen and his Napoli teammates will operate under a new coach when they face La Liga giants Barcelona on Wednesday at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
This follows the sacking of Walter Mazzarri Tuesday with the Italian Champions announcing that Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona will replace Mazzarri with immediate effect with a deal until the end of the season.
Calzona, 55, will also remain in charge of the Slovakia and will lead them into the European Championship in Germany.
He becomes Napoli’s third different coach of a chaotic campaign in which they have failed to hit the highs of last year’s title triumph under Luciano Spalletti.
Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Genoa spelled the end for Mazzarri, who replaced Rudi Garcia in November having previously coached the club between 2009 and 2013.
Walter Mazzarri’s arrival at Napoli in November failed to improve results. Photo by Ciro De Luca/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Mazzarri, 62, oversaw just six wins in 17 matches and a run of one victory in five games forced president Aurelio De Laurentiis to act ahead of Barça’s visit on Wednesday.
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Garcia had only been appointed last summer when Scudetto-winning manager Spalletti left to become coach of the Italian national team. Garcia won just eight of his 16 games while in the role.
Napoli won Serie A for the third time in their history last season and the first time since 1990, but their defence of the title has been a disaster.
After drawing with Genoa, they are ninth in the standings, nine points adrift of the Champions League spots and 27 off the pace set by leaders Inter.
Calzona, who was part of Spalletti’s coaching staff at Napoli before taking the Slovakia job in 2022, will now be tasked with turning their season around.
The Italian’s first game in charge will be against Barça in the Champions League this week, with league games against Cagliari, Sassuolo, Juventus and Torino to follow before the second leg in Spain on March 12.
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Osimhen just back from national service after participating at the 34th AFCON in Ivory Coast where Nigeria finished second, was not part of the Napoli squad that settled for a 1-1 draw against Genoa on Saturday, but is likely to be in action in Champions league clash against Barcelona.