Napoli Bow Out of Europa League Despite 2-1 Win Over Granada

In the second leg of the Europa League Round of 32, Napoli hosted the La Liga side Granada at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. The visitors came into this game with a two-goal advantage following their solid 2-0 win in the first leg a week ago. For Napoli, there was no turning back as Gennaro Gattuso’s men had to win by two goals or more to keep their Europa League dream alive.

Although Napoli showed enormous levels of perseverance to turn the game to their favor in the second half, they were unable to spark a miracle and suffered an early Europa League exit despite a 2-1 home win.

As expected, Napoli took control of the game from the first minutes, looking to find an early goal that would get them back in contention to qualify for the next round.

Surprisingly or not, Napoli’s determination to score within the first few minutes of the game was rewarded as Piotr Zielinski surged through the middle and lashed the ball with incredible pace and precision into the bottom left corner to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

? | StartingXI: Meret, Rrahmani, Maksimovic, Koulibaly, Di Lorenzo, Fabian, Bakayoko, Elmas, Zielinski, Insigne, Politano.#GranadaNapoli #UEL

? #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/9VXpsb5zS9

— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) February 25, 2021

It looked like Napoli would be in the hunt for the second goal immediately afterwards, as Matteo Politano showed great skill by controlling a square pass, but his curling effort from mid-range went wide of the left post.

Although conceding early is never a great sign, Granada managed to stay cool and did not lose their heads in search of an immediate equalizer, as the Spanish side still had a precious goal advantage over the two legs and were more concerned about protecting their goal.

On the other hand, Napoli knew the consequences of conceding at home and, after the adventurous opening ten minutes, were more cautious in their play. Consequently, it followed with both teams interchanging spells of possession, simply knocking the ball around with little impetus to attack and pressurize the opposition.

However, as it often happens in football, something comes out of nothing when you expect it the least. The visitors were simply pinging the ball around with no real intention to threat Napoli’s goal, but a simple cross from Granada’s right-back Dimitri Foulquier was met by Angel Montoro, who planted a perfect header inside the right post, making it 1-1.

A crucial away goal from Granada meant Napoli had to score three without reply, which looked truly a mission impossible. In the 36^th minute, the home side were agonizingly close to making it 2-1, as Lorenzo Insigne’s superbly struck free-kick was palmed away on to the crossbar by Granada’s goalkeeper Rui Silva.

The final minutes of the first half were heavily distorted by the number of injuries from both sides, with little action on either end of the pitch.

? | Gli scatti del primo tempo#NapoliGranada #UEL

? #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/4s5HXesAKP

— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) February 25, 2021

In the second half, Napoli began to mount pressure straight from the kick-off, with Elif Elmas wasting a glorious opportunity to give his side a 2-1 lead, as he darted into the penalty area to latch on to a pass, but his low shot towards the middle of the goal was denied by the fingertips of Rui Silva.

Nevertheless, Napoli did make it 2-1 five minutes later when Insigne played a wonderful defense-splitting pass to find the feet of Fabian Ruiz who coolly slotted it home, giving Napoli 30 minutes of hope.

Over the next 15 minutes, Napoli kept on pilling persistent pressure as Gattuso’s men were in search of a third goal. In the 68^th minute, Dries Mertens had a great chance to make it 3-1 after latching on to a perfect cross from the wing, but his header went just wide of the right post.

In the final ten minutes, Napoli seemed to have run out of gas and posed little threat to Granada’s goal. The Spanish side defended solidly for most of the second half, and despite coming away with a defeat, they are through to the Round of 16 on aggregate.

 

MATCH REPORT

February 25, 2021 – Europa League 2020-21 Round of 32
NAPOLI-GRANADA 2-1 (Granada advance 3-2 on aggregate)

SCORERS: 3′ Zielinski (N), 25′ Montoro (G), 59′ Fabian Ruiz (N)

REFEREE: Siebert (Germany)
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Politano, Maksimovic, Koulibaly (N), Kenedy, Montoro, Duarte, Herrera, Foulquier (G); Extra Time: 1st Half 5′, 2nd Half 7′