Papers split on Allegri's future and his team as Napoli face Bodø/Glimt

The question running through the Italian press on Tuesday 20 October is what is left standing after Venezia. The papers cover Allegri's position, a line-up they describe in opposite ways and a treatment room that will not empty. The Champions League match against Bodø/Glimt at the Maradona, at 21:00 CET (20:00 UK, 15:00 ET), holds it all together. Napoli go into it still without a point in Europe.

On the team the papers contradict each other outright. The Corriere dello Sport expects a small revolution: a 4-2-3-1, six changes from Venezia and a rest for Badiashile. La Repubblica writes the opposite. Allegri is not expected to rotate, Lang is heading for a start after Alisson Santos's injury, and the shape would return to a 4-3-3. Six changes and no rotation cannot both be true. The team sheets will settle it.

The injuries take up a lot of space. Alisson Santos is reported to have a moderate tear of the left hamstring, the same injury he suffered on 9 September. The club has given no timescale. The Gazzetta dello Sport, as picked up on Tuesday, talks of a month or more. The Corriere dello Sport puts it at five to six weeks and, in a separate piece, at least eight to nine matches. Il Mattino goes beyond the bulletin. Anguissa, Neres and Alisson Santos have all broken down again after returning, and the paper points the finger at the medical staff. Il Mattino also writes that Vergara misses the match but is aiming to return against Roma. Buongiorno, who had meniscus surgery in July, is left out of both the Serie A and Champions League squad lists, with a possible return in January.

Sky Sport also opens a file on De Bruyne. In its view the player has to be clear with Napoli by January and there is no sense in keeping him at half capacity. The Sky Insider quoted says he "does not seem to have the attitude of someone who made the right choice coming to Napoli". The Corriere dello Sport looks at the stands instead: the box-office estimate for the match is fewer than 40,000 at the Maradona.

Our view

The real knot is on Il Mattino's page. Three relapses in a month are a matter of organisation, not bad luck, and the club still refuses to put a timescale on Alisson Santos. Whoever is responsible for the medical staff should say so. Sky convinces us less. It loads the attitude problem onto De Bruyne after a saved penalty in Venice, in a team with other open questions. The stories about the dinner and the resignation threat leave out what matters to anyone going to the stadium: what changes on the pitch to avoid another Venezia, not the backroom detail of whether the coach's position is secure or strained.