Napoli added goals – Newspaper Kommersant No. 190 (7391) dated 13.10.

The next clubs that booked a ticket to the play-offs in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage were the fantastically successful Napoli this autumn and the upstart Brugge. The home win against Ajax – 4:2 – was the fourth in a row for the Italian club playing in Group A. And the position of the Belgian club in group B was made concrete by the goalless draw obtained after three victories in the away match with Atlético.

On Wednesday evening, Napoli confirmed the status of almost the main revelation of the current football autumn. He entered the season, still not having the status of an unconditional grandee, who, without hesitation, is put on the shortlist of contenders for the most valuable trophies. But now it’s impossible not to admit: there are few teams in the “big European five” that play as interestingly, so productively and as effectively as the one coached by Luciano Spalletti, who is familiar to Russia from working with Zenit. Or maybe there aren’t any at all.

Moreover, the Champions League highlights the Neapolitan opportunities even more convex, or something, than the national championship.

Napoli approached the rematch with Ajax with amazing performance. His quartet did not look frankly weak, but in all matches the Italian club not only beat their rivals, among which, along with the Amsterdammers, were Glasgow Rangers and Liverpool, but defeated them with a total score of 13:2. Such carnivals were not often arranged even by Barcelona and Real Madrid during the best periods in their lives.

A new meeting with Ajax was a continuation of the performance. The Dutch team played well in it, even stylishly, but still, against the backdrop of Napoli, they didn’t look at all.

The hosts did not pursue possession of the ball, but, taking it away, they almost always invented something interesting.

They scored a goal almost immediately – after a cool attack, which, in fact, was dispersed by the two of Piotr Zielinski and Irving Lozano, who passed the ball to each other and surprisingly correctly, exactly in time, adjusting to the passes. Everything turned to a neat “scoop” from Zelinsky on the head of Lozano, who hit the corner of the goal with a neat blow.

The next scoring attack, however, was no worse. Here, a player came to the fore, who turned into the most adored character among Napoli fans. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia moved to this club in the summer, being a dark horse, a young dribbler who earned a reputation as a promising talent in Rubin Kazan, that is, whatever one may say, not at the level to say with absolute certainty that he is already ready to work miracles in the Italian championship and in the Champions League. But Kvaratskhelia’s transformation into a full-fledged star took only a few weeks, and today they always expect goals scored from him, assists – and almost always, no matter who Napoli opposes, they wait.

In the match with Ajax, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia first acted in the already familiar role of a class assistant. This time – for Giacomo Raspadori, who, having received the ball from Kvaratskhelia, put it under his left foot and sent it under the crossbar.

The colossal margin of safety created in a quarter of an hour seems to have played a cruel joke on Napoli, slightly reassuring the hosts, making them believe that Ajax could be dealt with in warm-up mode. Retribution for the lack of composure, aiming at the goal followed shortly after the break, when Davi Klassen jumped onto the flank canopy, and the Neapolitan goalkeeper Alex Meret, reaching for the ball, could not prevent him from crossing the “ribbon”.

True, Ajax did not last long next to Napoli – until the inclusion of VAR, which recorded the ball hitting the away player’s hand inside his penalty area. Kvaratskhelia was entrusted to perform the penalty kick, and he coped with it flawlessly.

The fire of intrigue “Ajax” warmed up only in the end, when he himself earned a penalty.

But Napoli spent the final minutes with discipline, once again hit the goal thanks to the blunder of the guests and the energy of Victor Osimhen, and the fourth consecutive victory in the Champions League, although, finally, not a big one, of course, did not go away from him. As well as a ticket to the playoffs.

On Wednesday, as part of the early time slot, another sensational club played its match of the fourth round – also Brugge, who also won all the matches of the first round. The Belgian team, unlike Napoli, lost points for the first time. Although it is unlikely that her guest goalless draw against the Spanish Atlético can be considered a misfire. In the end, Brugge had to finish the match after the removal of Kamal Sova in the minority, and ten points scored by him guarantee a ticket to the playoffs, although in fact, before the start of the group stage, it seemed that in the battles with the Spanish giant, the Portuguese Porto and the German “Bayer” she does not shine for this club.

Alexey Dospekhov