Midges swarm Castel Volturno in Napoli's final Villarreal session

An invasion of midges swept through Castel Volturno (Napoli's training ground) during the squad's final session before Tuesday's Champions League trip to Villarreal, catching both Massimiliano Allegri's staff and his players off guard.

The timing is awkward. Napoli travel to the Estadio de la Cerámica on Tuesday 13 October at 21:00 CET (20:00 UK, 15:00 ET) needing a response after losing 0-1 at home to Arsenal, a defeat that opened their Champions League League Phase campaign in the worst possible way. It is only the second matchday of the competition's new format, and another poor result would make qualification considerably harder.

Villarreal, under Iñigo Pérez, arrive in the same position: they lost away to José Mourinho's Real Madrid. Both sides go into the Cerámica fixture under pressure to find form in Europe — a competition that, as ever, has no bearing on the Serie A table, where Napoli sit eighth on 10 points after a 3-0 win over Frosinone and three straight positive results.

A swarm of insects on the last day before a big match is, in the end, just a footnote — it changes nothing about the squad's condition or the plans already set during the week. But it is a reminder of how unpredictable even the final hours before a key game can be. The bigger picture remains a Napoli side still needing to prove, after the Arsenal defeat, that it can handle the league-and-cup workload without dropping off.

There is no time to dwell on Spain either way: Napoli are back in action on Saturday 17 October at 15:00, away at Venezia, who have lost all six of their league games so far. Napoli cannot afford to underestimate them. For now, though, midges aside, all the focus is on the Cerámica.