Napoli's season is a story of failure. They eventually failed to qualify to the next Champions League, their main goal right from the beginning, in the very last game of the campaign when everything seemed to be on their side.
Having obtained a Coppa Italia success the previous season, Napoli maintained their squad basically unaltered, only adding some precious firepower in Petagna and Osimhen. Their start to the season was an extraordinary one as they won the first 4, scoring for fun against Genoa, 6-0, and Atalanta, 4-1. However, it did not last as they lost 2 consecutive home games, to Sassuolo and Milan, between weeks 6 and 8.
Three more wins followed, with them sitting on the second place, but then they faced a small crisis, winning only once in 5 and losing 3 between weeks 12 and 16. By then, injuries had started piling up, in particular in the attack. Thus, the following weeks saw them being particularly inconsistent and being eliminated from both the Coppa Italia and the Europa League.
In week 24 Napoli were sitting on the 7th spot and their Champions League ambitions seemed to be over but then they started an unstoppable march characterized by 11 wins, 3 draws and just 1 defeat (to Juventus). They went into the last game of the season in the top 4 and with a favourable home clash against Hellas Verona. Despite taking the lead, they failed to win and were eventually overtaken in the table by the Old Lady.
Napoli certainly paid a heavy toll for the injuries that plagued Ospina in goal, Koulibaly at the back and Osimhen, while he was at his best. Moreover, they had important players like Zielinski or Bakayoko who failed to be consistent and were at times disastrous. On the other hand, captain Insigne set his scoring record with 19 goals and 7 assists.
Coach Gattuso managed to keep the squad together in the darkest hours and to obtain results even when injuries accumulated, but that was not enough for him to earn himself a confirmation for next season.
