Papers split over who ordered Napoli's retreat after the 4-1 in Porto

The Italian papers on Friday 6 November barely mention the match. They are all about what came after it. The 4-1 defeat in Porto has opened a crisis that involves the coach, the club and the dressing room at once, and each paper tells it from a different angle.

Whose idea was it

Il Mattino contradicts itself. One piece says the retreat was Allegri's idea and that De Laurentiis gave him a free hand with a "Fate voi" ("Up to you"), adding that the players did not take it well. Another Il Mattino headline says the squad goes into retreat from Friday "at De Laurentiis's wish", a day earlier than planned. La Repubblica backs the second version: a punitive retreat in Pozzuoli, ordered by the president.

This is not a detail. If nobody will clearly claim a measure this heavy, nobody wants to own it completely.

Allegri's position

On the coach's future, the two most-read papers in the city reach the same conclusion on different timelines. Il Mattino writes that De Laurentiis is not considering a sacking and will not address the squad. It dismisses the names that have circulated this week in one line: the rumours about Conceição, Thiago Motta and Pioli were "put about by the entourages". The Corriere dello Sport agrees that Allegri is not under threat for now, but it sets a deadline. For the president, Lazio are the first real turning point.

The picture of Allegri after Porto is of a furious coach. Il Mattino reports shouting in the dressing room, silence the following day, and a meeting at Castel Volturno (the training ground) with the squad, Di Lorenzo and the injured players about what the paper calls the "male oscuro", a mysterious malaise. The Corriere dello Sport describes an outburst at the team hotel aimed at the sporting director, Giovanni Manna.

It adds a behind-the-scenes claim that shifts the blame. After just one week, Allegri reportedly asked the president and Manna for two or three quality signings and was ignored. La Repubblica builds on this, writing that Manna's position is now less secure.

The dressing room

The Corriere dello Sport reports outbursts from Politano, McTominay and Højlund after the Dragão, with Højlund openly at odds with the coach.

"Non sono d'accordo con Allegri" ("I don't agree with Allegri")

The same paper says the club will not fine Lucca and De Bruyne for their row in Porto, and speaks of tension behind closed doors too. On injuries, it confirms that Di Lorenzo, Olivera and Lobotka will miss the Lazio game. The first two are expected back against Torino, but no diagnosis has been officially announced.

Our view

The papers are good at telling us who shouted, who vented and who argued. Almost none of them go back to the pitch, where Porto scored twice from corners and hit the woodwork twice.

The retreat that president and coach seem to be passing between them, and the request for signings that went unheard, point to the same thing: inside the club, everyone is already preparing their own version of events. If that request is genuine, Manna and De Laurentiis have to answer for it. On Sunday, against a Lazio side with twice our points, the fans will not care who was right. They want a team.