De Laurentiis phones from Geneva as Allegri's job comes under review before Porto

Two days after the 2-0 defeat at the Allianz Stadium, the papers on Tuesday 3 November say little about the Champions League. They look inside Napoli instead: the injuries, the president's phone calls and his backing for Allegri, which comes with conditions.

by Gennaro SanninoTuesday 3 November, 08:39 CET· 4 hours ago

I NUMERI

Arena Napoli International graphic

Napoli play Porto at the Dragão on Wednesday 4 November at 21:00 CET (20:00 UK, 15:00 ET), on matchday four of the Champions League league phase. The papers on Tuesday 3 November barely mention Porto.

After Sunday's defeat to Juventus, the coverage is about two other things. One is the relationship between Aurelio De Laurentiis and Massimiliano Allegri. The other is the injury list, which now matters as much as any result. The president stayed in Geneva and will not travel to Portugal. He is working the phone, and that is where almost every paper starts.

Backing, with conditions

Il Mattino gives the story the most space, across several pieces. It reports another heated exchange between Allegri and the squad at Vinovo, before the team left for Porto. It also reports that De Laurentiis, worried about the injuries, rang the coach, and made a second call on the same subject to the doctor, De Luca.

On the club's position, the paper writes that Allegri still has the owner's confidence, but that the owner will follow the next few games closely. The same paper also says the president "should call Allegri to account" on Tuesday 3 November. Backing and a review on the same page: that is support with an expiry date, even if nobody calls it that.

One fact, two readings

Il Mattino and La Repubblica start from the same fact about the injuries and reach opposite conclusions. In Il Mattino, the president is the one asking the questions. In La Repubblica, Antonio Corbo puts the club itself in the dock. We have only the headline of his piece, which speaks of "23 wrong signings and 43 injuries". The serious failings it lists include the choice of Allegri. One paper has the club looking for someone to blame. The other says the club is to blame.

23 wrong signings and 43 injuries

De Bruyne: mixed signals

The reports on Kevin De Bruyne do not agree. Corriere dello Sport writes that the ankle sprain that kept him in the dressing room at half-time in Turin was due to be assessed with tests on Tuesday 3 November, and that he is a doubt for Porto. Sky Sport's headline says instead that De Bruyne "stays with the group". We have only Sky's headline, so we cannot tell whether that means he will play. The two reports have to be read together, and the team selection on Wednesday 4 November will settle it.

Corriere dello Sport adds a detail that stands out next to everything else. It says De Laurentiis has long admired Francesco Farioli, the Porto coach, and has followed him since his time at Nice. The paper places him in the president's "magic circle", and points out that De Laurentiis is not travelling, so the two will not meet. The Corriere says nothing more, and neither do we. Still, on the same day, one paper writes that Allegri is being watched and another writes about the president's regard for the coach Napoli face on Wednesday.

Our view

The papers are right to put the injuries at the centre. But the coverage slides into palace gossip: phone calls, outbursts, magic circles. That loses sight of the most concrete fact. In Porto, Di Lorenzo and Olivera are out and Allegri has no specialist full-backs. Nobody puts that on the front page, yet that is where the match will be decided.

As for confidence "to be checked match by match", the president has every right to take that line. But it should be called what it is: a decision made from Geneva, on the eve of a European away game he will not attend.