Lazio v Napoli: preview

Edy Reja is the only coach along with Ottavio Bianchi to have sat on the Napoli bench for almost 5 seasons. Ottavio Bianchi coached Napoli during their golden era (1985-1989) and won them the first league title, the Italian Cup and a Uefa Cup. Twenty years later, Reja took the Donkeys from the shallows of the Italian league back to the place they belonged (2005-2009). Last season an outstanding performance from Tommaso Rocchi, who scored twice in Stadio San Paolo (0-2) after coming on as a substitute, led movie mogul Aurelio De Laurentiis to sack Reja. He then employed Roberto Donadoni before replacing him with Walter Mazzarri after Napoli had lost in Rome against Roma in Week 7. Mazzarri led the team to an impressive 15 games unbeaten run in the league. They might have won only 2 of the last 10 games, but their recent form has been remarkable. Napoli collected 7 points in 7 days after preventing AC Milan to go top of Serie A (1-1) and beating Juventus (3-1) and Catania (1-0) both at home. They’re now 3 points adrift of a Champions League spot. Hugo Campagnaro played a vital role in all those matches. The Argentine defender has now become a fans favourite after scoring in Milan and going close against Catania. All in all, he showed great spirit and determination. The Argentinean press has publicly invited Diego Maradona to call him up for the World Cup. Napoli supporters (who won’t travel to the Olimpico for the usual ban) mostly appreciated his energy and grit. Despite spending 6 millions upon Andrea Dossena, Mazzarri had to re-invent his left flank, fielding Campagnaro there – a natural centre-half. Just like his coach, Campagnaro will be back for the first time in the Olimpico where last May their Sampdoria lost on penalties (and, along with Cassano, he missed one) against Lazio in the Cup final. The Argentine defender then missed through injury the Roma game back in October.
Mazzarri’s power probably lays in his half-time speech. The statistics show that Napoli are joint leaders with Roma, AC Milan and Palermo in the second-halves table: they all got 12 points after overturning their deficits. Napoli have been involved in more 0-0 draws (seven) than any other team in Serie A.

Edy Reja will most probably change formation again. If he opts for a 3-4-2-1, as it seems, Lazio will have played with the 5th different formation in 8 games since he took over from Ballardini. Basically, both teams in the end should share the same tactics (see line-ups below).
The coach from Gorizia is an end-of-season specialist. Not because he’s a retailer (!), but because of his ability in ending the season in style. In his last 5 seasons he first took Cagliari back to Serie A with 6 wins and 1 draws in the last 7, he then led Napoli to 3 victories and 4 draws in Serie C1 before bringing the joy of promotion to Serie B the following season (2 wins and 5 draws). In 2006/07 he again guided his troops to promotion but this time in Serie A after 4 victories, 2 draws and just one defeat; and even in the 2007/08 season, despite losing 3, drawing one and winning 3 of the last 7, Napoli qualified for the last ever edition of the Intertoto Cup. “If we beat Napoli, we’ll be 90% safe”, he declared today. Reja has never drawn in 6 attempts against the Campania outfit, collecting 3 wins (all with Vicenza) and 3 defeats.
Lazio continue their march towards safety and, after Saturday’s game, they will travel to Bologna before facing Roma in one of the fiercest derbies of the most recent years. In order to get there in full form, the players will have to be very careful when tackling an opponent and Reja should be able to rotate them as best as possible. As a matter of fact, seven Lazio players are cautioned: Foggia, Lichtsteiner, Baronio, Rocchi, Floccari, Ledesma and Cruz are all one yellow card short from suspension.

Aleksandar Kolarov is just one game short from 100 games in a Lazio shirt (so far he collected 77 in Serie A, 13 in the Italian Cup, 8 in the European cups and 1 in the Italian Supercup).

Lazio and Napoli have met 55 times in Serie A in Rome, with the Eagles winning 24, the Donkeys 12 and 19 games drawn. Their last draw in the league dates back to December 1991, when Lazio threw away a two-goal lead and the game ended 3-3. That day Gianfranco Zola and Laurent Blanc were on the pitch for Napoli.

Possible line-ups:
LAZIO (3-4-2-1) 86 Muslera; 80 Dias, 28 Stendardo, 26 Radu; 2 Lichtsteiner, 32 Brocchi, 24 Ledesma, 11 Kolarov; 5 Mauri, 10 Zarate; 20 Floccari.
Subs: 88 Berni, 25 Biava (85 Diakité), 13 Siviglia, 33 Baronio, 4 Firmani, 17 Foggia, 9 Rocchi.
Coach: Reja

NAPOLI (3-4-2-1) 26 De Sanctis; 2 Grava, 28 Cannavaro, 14 Campagnaro; 11 Maggio, 5 Pazienza, 23 Gargano, 16 Zuniga; 17 Hamsik, 27 Quagliarella; 7 Lavezzi.
Subs: 1 Iezzo, 6 Aronica, 77 Rinaudo, 33 Rullo, 18 Bogliacino, 21 Cigarini, 19 Denis.
Coach: Mazzarri

Referee: Orsato di Schio (Padovan-Tonolini. 4th official: Velotto)