Napoli 1-3 Arezzo: Allegri's Napoli suffer opening friendly defeat, beaten 3-1 by Arezzo

Arezzo took the lead through Cerri and Gilli, before Politano pulled one back. However, Eklu sealed the victory late on.

Match Report:

Max Allegri's first match in charge of Napoli will certainly not go down in history. It was only a friendly, of course, but losing on debut is certainly frustrating, especially for the fans. Just like a year ago, Arezzo defeated Napoli in their first pre-season outing in Val di Sole. The match ended 3-1 to Bucchi's side, who were recently promoted to Serie B. Cerri scored in the first half, heading home from close range, before Gilli doubled their lead at the start of the second half, reacting quickest to Milinkovic Savic's parry. Napoli pulled a goal back through Politano, who first saw his penalty saved by Serban before converting the rebound. Lucca was denied by the post, while Arezzo's third-choice goalkeeper Trobini made saves from Pareyra and Lobotka, and Mawuli sealed the win in the 90th minute. Some fans even left the stands before the final whistle.

POINTS TO NOTE—  Allegri rotated all available players. In the first half, he tried Rrahmani and Rafa Marin at centre-back, a pairing that would currently be the first choice without Buongiorno and Beukema, and with Olivera still on post-World Cup holiday. Giovane impressed, starting wide on the right in the front three, while Prisco, a promising 2008-born playmaker, also performed reasonably well. In the second half, Lucca made a good impact (though he left early with a right ankle problem), and Rao, who is set to be sold (Palermo and Pisa are vying for him), showed some flashes.

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT—  For Arezzo's opening goal, Napoli were caught out on the left flank during a counter-attack, and then from Sala's cross, Cerri headed home far too easily from close range past Meret. The final 3-1 scoreline came from a misplaced pass, with Obaretin's horizontal ball to Lobotka intercepted, leading to Mawuli's decisive close-range finish. In short, it wasn't the debut Max had dreamed of. He is awaiting the return of his World Cup players and perhaps some new signings from the transfer market. First, there are players to sell, but strengthening the squad also doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Line-ups

Napoli XI: Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Meret, Anguissa, Miguel Gutiérrez, Jesper Lindstrøm, Rafa Marín, Højlund, Alisson Santos, Giovane, Vincenzo Prisco

Subs: Vanja Milinković-Savić

Arezzo XI: Ionita, Andrea Seculin, Alberto Cerri, Julián Illanes, Camillo Tavernelli, Matteo Cortesi, Lorenzo Coccia, Matteo Gilli, Mattia Sala, Marlon Mena Martinez, Aleandro Manes

Subs: Marco Chiosa, Alessandro Capello, Pietro Cianci, Mario Ravasio, Eklu Shaka Mawuli, Mattia Viviani, Luca Chierico, Muhamed Varela Djamanca, Samuele Righetti, Luca Trombini, Alessandro Renzi, Matías Casarosa, Samuel Sussi, Gianmarco Cipriani, F. Serban