Lobotka: Napoli's fixture list is 'brutal' on tired legs

The Slovak playmaker played four full 90 minutes for Slovakia in 11 days and warns his body, not his pay packet, picks up the bill.

by Gennaro SanninoThursday 8 October, 13:19 CET· 2 hours ago

Stanislav Lobotka — Foto: Harpagornis · CC BY-SA 4.0

Stanislav Lobotka has gone public on the toll of Napoli's packed schedule. "Even if I'm paid well to play football... I'm still just a human being," he said. "I feel the physical fatigue, and the fatigue from the flights too. You could say the international break will help, but I don't know if it really will. They can pay you whatever they want, but the stress is yours, your body's. Just look at how many players have been injured on international duty."

Lobotka did not spare himself: between 26 September and 6 October he played four full 90-minute matches, driving Slovakia to first place in their Nations League group. Napoli now face a run of nine matches in quick succession across Serie A and the Champions League, with a game every three days.

Possono pagarti quanto vuoi, ma lo stress è il tuo, del tuo corpo.

Lobotka goes into this stretch as one of the few midfielders always available, while head coach Allegri deals with the absences of Vergara, Olivera and Favasuli and still awaits the result of McTominay's fitness assessment ahead of Saturday, when Napoli host Frosinone at 20:45 CET at the Maradona.