After surging into the Champions League quarter-finals, Serie A leaders Napoli seek to add another domestic win to their collection on Sunday, when they tackle Torino. Toro’s last league win against the Partenopei dates back to 2015, and they will be hard pressed to end that run this weekend despite some good form keeping them in the hunt for a top-six finish. Still reigning supreme in Italy, Napoli secured a spot in the Champions League’s last eight with consummate ease on Wednesday, dispatching Eintracht 3-0 in Naples to progress 5-0 on aggregate. Top scorer Victor Osimhen bagged another double, while Piotr Zielinski scored their third from the spot.
Having racked up 25 goals in the process of reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in club history, Luciano Spalletti’s men are contenders for ultimate glory in Istanbul come June, but must first navigate their way past familiar foes Milan next month. Napoli’s 2-0 win against Atalanta last weekend – when wing wizard Khvicha Kvaratskhelia broke the deadlock with a stunning solo goal – maintained their lead atop the domestic standings: an advantage of a scarcely credible 18 points.
Since Serie A returned to 20 teams in 2004, no team has ever held such a lead with 12 games left to play, and it is surely just a matter of time before the Partenopei are crowned champions for the first time in over 30 years. On Sunday, they will aim to break more new ground, as they have kept clean sheets in each of their last five away games and have never before posted six successive shut-outs away from home in Serie A.
History is on their side as they seek to do so in Turin, as in Napoli’s last seven league meetings with Torino they have won six and drawn one. Indeed, the Campanian club have not even conceded a goal on four occasions – including each of the last three. Torino’s last Serie A victory over Napoli came some 15 games ago, and in the context of their visitors’ recent performances, they may be fearing the worst before a ball is even kicked this weekend.
Nonetheless, Il Toro’s tally of 14 points from their last eight matches has kept them in the mix for European qualification, and following last week’s 2-0 win at Lecce they have won their last two without conceding. Since mid-January, Ivan Juric’s men have only lost to Milan and city rivals Juventus in the league, and victory in their tempestuous tussle with Lecce – decided by first-half strikes from Wilfried Singo and in-form striker Antonio Sanabria – moved them up to eighth place in the standings.
Just one point shy of Juve – who were, of course, docked 15 points earlier this season – Torino can still dream of a late run taking them into continental competition for the first time in four years. If Sanabria can keep scoring at something like his recent rate, they will surely remain contenders, but their final fixture before the international break now presents the very toughest of tests.
