It was a similar story to the last couple of seasons for Napoli in the 2013/14 campaign. Plenty of fond memories tinged with some regret. It was a summer of change at the club with one of the most successful managers in their history, Walter Mazzarri, leaving to join Inter whilst leading scorer and talisman Edinson Cavani also departed. Those were two huge losses but the men who came in to replace them gave the fans reason for great optimism. Rafael Benitez, a man who has a wealth of experience and enjoyed continued success throughout Europe, came in as the new manager. He was aggressive in the transfer market too, signing Gonzalo Higuain for €40 million to help replace the goals of Cavani. A plethora of other well known names came in such as Pepe Reina, Raul Albiol, Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon. Indeed, that recruitment policy led many to believe that this was a better overall squad despite Cavani's departure and that they could really challenge for the Scudetto. The raw statistics at the end of the season made for good reading. Benitez's team managed to equal the club record points tally of 78 set by Mazzarri's side last season whilst scoring a mammoth 77 goals in Serie A, more than they'd ever scored in the league. Indeed, it was the Partenopei's attacking flair that earned them the most plaudits with Callejon being the most effective of the new signings with a prolific season in terms of goals and assists. Napoli managed to record wins over Juventus and Roma domestically as well as Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal in the Champions League. So why did this team only finish in 3rd place in Serie A and a full 24 points off the top? The answer was that, despite being able to beat anyone on their day, Napoli dropped far too many points against the lesser teams. They failed to match their attacking brilliance with defensive solidity which is usually a trait of Benitez teams. Despite finishing as the club's leading scorer, Higuain failed to really live up to his price-tag at times - netting 17 times, only twice more than Callejon. It was his and other's inability to kill off the smaller teams which cost Napoli on several occasions. Despite those minor negatives, the campaign did end with silverware for Benitez, who is something of a specialist in cup competitions, as the team lifted the Coppa Italia. The Spaniard also guided the side to 12 points in their Champions League "group of death" but they still went out - the first team ever to exit the competition at the group stage with that tally of points. Nevertheless, it was a very respectable debut season for Benitez but he will be expected to mount a more sustained title challenge next term.
