Scotland talisman completes comeback but is unable to prevent Champions League defeat.
Scotland talisman Scott McTominay took the final step in his comeback from heart surgery, starting for Napoli in their 3-1 defeat to Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
His first start for the Italian giants in 45 days, McTominay was last named in the Napoli starting XI in a 2-1 defeat to Como on August 30, but was forced to undergo surgery shortly afterwards when routine medical tests saw him diagnosed with a mild, benign cardiac arrhythmia.
The condition, which causes minor irregular heartbeats, led the 29-year-old to undergo pulsed field ablation, which is described as a minimally invasive procedure that treats irregular heartbeats by delivering short, high-voltage electrical pulses to safely destroy tiny areas of faulty heart tissue.
The treatment forced McTominay out of Scotland’s Nations League camp last month under new head coach Sebastien Pocognoli but, after making his return from the bench in the 3-0 win over Frosinone in the Serie A on Saturday, McTominay completed his return to action by being named in Massimiliano Allegri’s starting XI for the visit to the Estadio de la Ceramica,
Partnering international teammate Billy Gilmour in the middle of the park, Napoli entered the game looking to pick up their first Champions League points of the season, having lost 2-0 to Arsenal in their opening game last month. Meanwhile, their hosts were looking to avoid becoming the first Spanish side in history to lose eight consecutive matches in the competition.
They got themselves off to a perfect start when Amir Rrahmani fired the away side ahead after just eight minutes. Latching on to an excellent cross from Gilmour, the defender saw his header tipped onto the crossbar by Luiz Junior, but the Villarreal goalkeeper was unable to prevent the Kosovan from smashing home the rebound from close range.
Napoli almost went 2-0 up shortly afterwards when former Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund cannoned a header off the crossbar. Frustratingly for Allegri’s side, a disastrous, unforced back-pass by Matteo Politano only 60 seconds later was intercepted by Georges Mikautadze, who levelled the scores in the 23rd minute. Just three minutes after the equaliser, Villarreal found themselves in front through Uruguayan full-back Santiago Mourino, who blasted home a vicious 25-yard drive beyond the reach of Vanja Milinkovic-Savic to flip the game on its head.
McTominay left the field on the hour mark to be replaced by experienced midfielder Leonardo Spinazzola as Napoli searched for an equaliser, and they almost found themselves level in the 80th minute when a mazy run from Hojlund saw him bearing down on goal. However, Villarreal stopper Junior was able to push the ball wide, much to the striker’s agony, before the game was put to bed just three minutes later when substitute Tani Oluwaseyi blasted home from just inside the area.
The result leaves Napoli in 31st position in the Champions League table after the first two rounds of fixtures, with a clash against Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt up next Tuesday at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
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