You could say, crazy Napoli. Twice the lead was made to recover and then closed, the game, with a network by Lorenzo Insigne, the character around whom the entire prepartita was built for its exclusion from the starting lineup. He got the three points, Napoli, in a cynical way, capitalizing on the restarts to the maximum and enhancing the qualities of his attackers. Tonight, Dries Mertens has entered the club's history: with the brace at Salzburg he has risen to 116 goals in the all-time scorer standings, overtaking Diego Maradona in second place. Now, Marek Hamsik, who leads the ranking, is only 7 goals away.

OUTSIDE INSIGNE - The pregara is characterized by the announcement of the official formations: in Naples there is no Lorenzo Insigne. The coach keeps him out to make room for Piotr Zielinski in the four midfielders, to the left. The surprises prepared by Carlo Ancelotti do not end here, as Arek Milik, the protagonist of Saturday night's success against Verona, must sit on the bench. Not even the brace was used to be reconfirmed. In attack, the technician relies on the pair of little ones, that is, Mertens and Lozano: for the Mexican attacker it is another opportunity to convince the Neapolitan environment on those qualities that he has not yet expressed. The real alarm, however, concerns the defense: there is nothing behind Kostas Manolas, stopped by muscular resentment. In his place, Ancelotti deploys Luperto.

THE CHARACTER - Ancelotti had asked for a performance on the eve of the day. And in the first few minutes the team seems to respond to the coach's request. After just a minute, in fact, Mertens shoots towards Stankovic who refuses the conclusion. Fabian Ruiz is the reference in the middle of the field, moves with elegance and dispenses openings for the exterior. However, the Salzburg's expectation is short-lived. Mewpu attracts to itself the attention of the Neapolitan medians, while Haaland puts Koulibaly in apprehension. And it is the Austrian striker who finds the goal, at 8 ', but the goal is canceled after Turpin reviews the action at the Var: in fact, the attacker is offside at the time of the conclusion.

THE ADVANTAGE - Napoli relies heavily on the restart with the speed of Callejon and Malcuit on the right and of Lozano on the left. And it was from a counter-attack that Mertens's goal was born. Malcuit starts the action by extending the ball to Callejon, who heads towards the Belgian striker. His shot is a bomb that leaves no way out for Stankovic. The advantage, in fact, and then nothing more, because from that moment on, Naples lost their own half and left the initiative to the opponent. Thus begins the show by Alex Meret who on four occasions denies the draw at Salzburg. The defense is in difficulty, the team is struggling to get out, to reject the aggression of the Austrians.

FAST 1-1 - And at 39 ', Salzburg finds the deserved draw for a foul by Malcuit on Hwang in the area. The defender becomes fooled by the attacking opponent and stops him using hard manners. Turpin has no hesitation in indicating the disk. Haaland shows up at the joke, displacing Meret. Meanwhile, Salzburg is forced to replace injured goalkeeper Stankovic with Coronel, while Lozano is booked. The first half ends after 5 minutes of recovery. We go to rest.

CYNIC - Maybe it doesn't show that character urged by Ancelotti, but Napoli knows how to hit, while the opponent tries to attack to win the game. And then, we think Malcuit, after yet another lunge on the right, to find the right suggestion for the turn of Mertens: Napoli is ahead. A minute later, we are at 20 ', Ancelotti draws an impalpable Lozano to the bench to insert Insigne. But the game still has something to say, a few twists to make it even more vibrant. Yes, because at the 27th minute Koulibaly allows Haaland to deflect Junuzovic's cross into the net: for the second time Napoli is caught up. All finished? Nah. Because at the resumption of the game, Koulibaly finds Mertens with a long throw, the touch towards the center of the Belgian attacker is immediate, for Insigne. The captain stops and kicks, putting things right. All in the space of a minute. The other surprise is the player's run to embrace Ancelotti. A demonstrative gesture, just to let the whole world know that there is no conflict between him and the coach.