The latest reports confirm that Massimiliano Allegri did not lead Napoli’s recovery session on Sunday morning after Saturday’s defeat against Venezia due to illness, whilst newspapers in Italy suggest that coach has two difficult games to turn his Partenopei career around.
Allegri skips Napoli training with illness but faces increasing pressure
Napoli were beaten 1-0 in Serie A on Saturday by a Venezia side that had not picked up a single point in any of their first six league games of the season.
Before the Venezia match, Allegri had already matched the worst start to a Napoli season in 17 years by suffering four defeats in his first eight games in charge across all competitions. That figure has now risen to five defeats from nine matches.
With a record of three wins, one draw and three defeats in Serie A so far this season, Napoli are already nine points shy of Inter at the top of the Serie A standings. They have also lost twice in the Champions League, which means they can barely afford to drop any more points until the end of the league phase if they are to qualify for the round of 16.
The upcoming schedule is also a cause for concern. Napoli are in Champions League action against Bodo Glimt on Tuesday. This is already considered a must-win game against a side that beat reigning Serie A champions home and away in the Champions League play-off round last season.
After that is a difficult Serie A test against an in-form Roma side at the Stadio Maradona on Saturday (October 24).
La Gazzetta dello Sport writes that a turnaround in results is now ‘urgent’ and that Allegri’s future as head coach of Napoli ‘will be at risk’ without a positive result from the next two matches.
To make life even more complicated, Allegri was unable to lead Napoli’s training session on Sunday after the 1-0 defeat against Venezia on Saturday as he is currently suffering with the flu according to reports from the Corriere dello Sport.