Napoli manage six injuries without Conte-era crisis

Buongiorno, McTominay, Marianucci, Spinazzola, Alisson Santos and Favasuli are all sidelined, yet no single department is stripped bare the way whole lines were under Antonio Conte. For now, Allegri's squad is coping with six absentees at once better than last season's did.

by Gennaro SanninoSunday 4 October, 22:19 CET· yesterday

Alessandro Buongiorno — Foto: Supporterhéninois · CC0

Six players are out at the same time, none of them available for the next match — that is the state of Napoli's treatment room six days before Frosinone. Yet the comparison with last season, when injuries wore down Antonio Conte for the entire campaign, tells a different story: there is no emergency spiral yet, because the problems are not piling up in one department.

Last season, muscle injuries were the theme of the whole campaign, with the squad counting bodies almost every week and few ready alternatives on the bench. That pattern has not returned in the same form so far under Allegri.

The six cases

Alessandro Buongiorno has been out since the start of the summer after surgery on the medial meniscus of his right knee, with his return pushed back to early 2027.

Scott McTominay, who had heart surgery — a cardiac ablation — on 8 September, resumed gym work on 29 September. On 6 October he has a fitness assessment that will decide whether he is available for Frosinone.

Luca Marianucci and Leonardo Spinazzola are both closer to returning; both missed the Castel Volturno test on 2 October, a 0-2 defeat to Alessandro Nesta's Avellino, working on individual programmes instead.

Alisson Santos, out for weeks, will miss both the Frosinone game and the Champions League trip to Villarreal, with a return expected on 17 October.

Costantino Favasuli is back in Naples, with a confirmed second-degree injury to the rectus femoris picked up on Under-21 duty.

The difference with the Conte era, for now, is in the distribution. No department is decimated, and Allegri has so far been able to manage the absences without overhauling his plans against Avellino. Defence, midfield and attack have all lost players, but never all together in the same area. It is relative calm, not an absence of problems.

The real test comes now. After Frosinone on Saturday 10 October at the Maradona, Napoli face Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday 13, then an away league game at Venezia, then Bodø/Glimt again at the Maradona on 20 October. It is a dense run of fixtures, with the team ninth on 7 points after five matchdays and coming off two straight positive results following a below-par start. Just when continuity is needed, the injury list is the first sign of how deep Allegri's squad really is.