Losing 3-1 at Real Madrid isn’t the end of the world, and a road goal just might give a team hope of advancing to the next round.
That’s not the mindset for Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis, who used a television interview to rip his manager after Wednesday’s first leg of the UEFA Champions League’s Round of 16.
[ RECAP: Real Madrid 3-1 Napoli ]
De Laurentiis says that Maurizio Sarri isn’t doing his job well. Sarri is in his second season guiding Napoli, where he’s won more than 64 percent of his matches.
The chairman took to TV, and Sarri didn’t know about the criticism until it was addressed in the post-match presser. For this, we turn to reporter Tancredi Palmeri.
Napoli president: "I spend so much money and in the end always the same ones are playing. The team had no temperament"
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) February 15, 2017
Napoli president: "The manager could actually once in a while change tactics... I don't understand some of his choices. Could have been 5-0"
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) February 15, 2017
Napoli manager Sarri: "I am the one at training camp and I decide. The president should talk to me and not to tv about his ideas"
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) February 15, 2017
In Serie A play, Napoli is nine points back of Juve, the same gap as last season, despite the sanctioning of the sale of top scorer Gonzalo Higuain to its title rivals. Napoli is very much alive heading back to Naples for a second leg against a relatively beatable Real.
So what is De Laurentiis doing?
