Napoli director Giovanni Manna urged them not to ‘panic’ yet even if they fail to get a result against Inter, and gives a clearer idea of when Scott McTominay will be back after heart surgery.
It kicks off at San Siro at 17.00 UK time (18.00 CEST).
These teams were the top two in Serie A over the last couple of campaigns, splitting the Scudetto glory between them, yet Napoli are unbeaten against Inter since the Supercoppa Italiana in January 2024.
They emerged with one win and four draws in those meetings.
Manna on Napoli ambition and status
“It was a Scudetto game more the first season than the last, as Inter dominated the most recent campaign, and we were dealing with a series of dynamics that didn’t allow us to challenge on the same level consistently with a very strong team,” Manna told DAZN Italia.
“We are only at the beginning, but the first half at Genoa was complicated and we played better as the game wore on. We decided to take a different approach to Como, then had two unfortunate errors.
“This squad needs to rediscover the determination and focus that stood it apart in recent years, and I am sure we will get there. This is a difficult place to play, so we mustn’t press the panic button just yet even if we don’t get a result here today.”
The Partenopei are coming off a painful 2-1 home defeat to Como, and after that lost Scott McTominay and Giovane for several weeks due to surgery.
The Scotland international needs a heart operation to correct a mild, benign arrhythmia, but is expected to be back next month.
“Scott is having an ablation surgery and also needs some blood-thinners afterwards, so that’s at least 28 days to resume training, and then at least another couple of weeks, so we hope to have him back in October,” explained Manna.
Are the Partenopei talking to McTominay about a contract extension too?
“We are talking about the contract, there are another two years left on the current deal. We want to do a new deal, so does he, we just need to get on the same page.”
