Napoli’s aspirations in the Champions League suffered a significant setback following their 3-0 defeat at home against Atalanta on Saturday. Meanwhile, the outgoing Serie A champions expressed solidarity with Juan Jesus amid a racism controversy.
Atalanta’s aspirations for a spot in Europe’s elite club competition received a boost with first-half goals from Aleksei Miranchuk and Gianluca Scamacca, followed by a late strike from Teun Koopmeiners, securing a 3-0 victory over Napoli.
Despite the setback, Francesco Calzona’s Napoli remains in seventh place, trailing Bologna by nine points, who currently occupy the fourth and final Champions League position. Napoli is set to face Salernitana at home on Easter Monday.
Furthermore, Napoli finds themselves six points behind fifth-placed Roma, with the capital club facing Lecce on Monday. Italy’s position to secure an additional spot in the revamped Champions League next season adds to the intrigue of the race.
Both Roma and Bologna face challenging away matches at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, while Atalanta, trailing Roma by just one point with a game in hand, remains a strong contender.
Before the match, Napoli’s players took a knee in solidarity with teammate Jesus, amidst the backdrop of fan chants against racism.
Jesus and Napoli were left disheartened by the Italian Football Federation’s disciplinary tribunal’s decision to clear Inter Milan defender Francesco Acerbi of racial abuse allegations due to lack of evidence. This followed accusations against Acerbi for directing racial slurs at Jesus during Napoli’s previous match against Inter Milan.
Despite Jesus’ presence in Saturday’s match, the Brazilian’s error led to Scamacca’s goal, further complicating Napoli’s pursuit of Champions League qualification. Napoli’s lackluster defense of their third league title has been evident, and their performance on Saturday failed to warrant a more favorable result.
Miranchuk narrowly missed a scoring opportunity in the third minute, striking the post. However, his goal in the 26th minute gave Atalanta a deserved lead.
Scamacca capitalized on a lapse from Jesus to score Atalanta’s second goal just before halftime, marking his 10th goal of the season across all competitions.
As the halftime whistle blew, Napoli faced loud boos from the crowd. However, the hosts showed determination to respond after the break.
Napoli came close to narrowing the deficit in the 55th minute, with both Zielinski and Osimhen hitting the woodwork.
Despite Osimhen’s efforts being denied twice by Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi, Koopmeiners sealed the victory with a precise left-footed finish, prompting further dissent from the stands.