Villarreal went into the half-time interval leading Napoli 2-1 at the Estadio de la Ceramica in Vila-real on Tuesday evening, according to live coverage from La Gazzetta dello Sport. Napoli had taken the lead through Rrahmani before the Spanish side scored twice inside three minutes. The match was still in progress when the report was published.
Why it matters
The scoreline leaves Napoli trailing at the break in a Champions League fixture, and La Gazzetta dello Sport describes the visitors as having suffered a psychological blow from conceding twice in quick succession. Napoli had opened the scoring and had chances to extend their lead before the game turned. The second half will decide whether they can recover.
How the first half unfolded
Napoli broke the deadlock through Rrahmani. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the goal came from a well-worked corner routine: Gilmour found space and clipped the ball into the middle, Rrahmani rose to head it, and Junior produced a strong save with help from the crossbar. The rebound fell back to Rrahmani, who reacted first and put it in.
Before that, the report notes, the Brazilian Giovane had made a bright start, linking play and winning a foul. Veiga made an important sliding intervention to stop a Napoli move in which Giovane had picked out Hojlund in the centre of the box. Rrahmani also made an early defensive block on Gerard Moreno.
Villarreal equalised through Mikautadze, who capitalised on a serious mistake by Politano. La Gazzetta dello Sport describes the Napoli wide player's backpass as reckless, gifting the ball to the home striker, who went around Milinkovic-Savic and rolled it into the net. A separate report from Corriere dello Sport also highlighted the error, calling the pass an assist for Mikautadze.
Mourino then put Villarreal ahead from distance, a strike the report describes as a joker pulled from the pack, with the Napoli goalkeeper unable to do anything about it. That made it two goals in three minutes for the home side.
Napoli had opportunities before the equaliser. Hojlund hit the junction of post and crossbar with a shot, and McTominay headed narrowly wide. After the goals, Villarreal pressed and reached shooting positions with ease, while Napoli, in the report's words, were on the ropes.
Late chances and a goalkeeping intervention
Napoli pushed for a leveller as the half wore on. Di Lorenzo crossed and McTominay brought the ball under control, but Hojlund could not find room to shoot. Politano tried to drive in from the right and his deflected cross looped over and behind. McTominay then found himself completely unmarked and headed just past the post from a strong position.
At the other end, Junior made a decisive intervention on Hojlund. The Danish forward was played in behind, and the goalkeeper read the situation and came out to take the ball off his feet. La Gazzetta dello Sport calls the piece of goalkeeping providential.
Earlier, Junior had been at fault in the move that led to Napoli's goal. The report notes that he lost the ball inside the six-yard box, leaving the goal exposed, and that Rrahmani failed to hit the target from the resulting chance before eventually scoring. Saliba also made an important block, cutting out a driven cross from the right ahead of Hojlund, and Badiashile deflected a Mikautadze shot from the edge of the area behind for a corner.
Substitutions and a spell of nine men
Allegri changed Napoli's shape, bringing on Lucca and Lobotka for Gilmour and Rafa Marin, and the report describes the coach as gambling with two strikers. Later, Neres, Lang and Spinazzola came on for McTominay, Politano and a visibly tired Giovane.
Villarreal made their own changes, sending on Freeman and Oluwaseyi for Mikautadze and Gerard Moreno. The report states that the Spanish side got their substitutions wrong and were left with nine men for a minute, prompting protests from the stands and raising the temperature of the match.
De Bruyne won the ball and accelerated away at one point, and the Georgian midfielder stopped him by clearly holding him, earning a yellow card. Gueye broke past a Napoli defender on the halfway line and was brought down, giving the home side a free kick.
Napoli's starting XI, listed as a 3-5-2, was Milinkovic-Savic; Rafa Marin, Rrahmani, Badiashile; Politano, De Bruyne, Gilmour, McTominay, Di Lorenzo; Giovane, Hojlund, under Allegri.
Separately, SSC Napoli published a note that delegations from Villarreal and Napoli met for a UEFA lunch ahead of the fixture. Sky Sport carried the match as a live score update, and Il Messaggero published viewing details, kick-off time, the official line-ups and the Champions League table.
The second half is under way, with Napoli needing a goal to draw level and Villarreal defending a one-goal advantage.
