5) Sarri faces an uphill task for Napoli to repeat their great season
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It’s easy to forget that a decade ago, Napoli were languishing in Serie B. Partonopei fans were in dreamland last season as Gonzalo Higuain looked all set to fire them to a historic Scudetto, but as we all know – fate has taken the cruelest turn for the Southern Italian club.
The challenge that Maurizio Sarri faces in his second season is keeping spirits up. When newly-promoted relegation candidates Delfino Pescara took a two-goal lead, the exalted ideas of a title challenge looked very, very far away. Dries Mertens’ heroics to bring the game back on level terms, were tempered by a missed penalty and a chance to win the game.
Napoli are very clearly hurting, and a salvaged draw against relegation candidates, however enterprising, is hardly the way to begin a campaign when their most favourite son left for hated rivals in the summer. Maurizio Sarri’s side looked far from title candidates, and Napoli face a tough season ahead.
