Carlo Ancelotti loving ‘outsider’ role

Carlo Ancelotti is a happy man. Partly because it’s in his nature to be happy — but also because his Napoli side go into tonight’s match against Paris St-Germain with a definite psychological edge, having taken four points from their two games against group favourites Liverpool and PSG, writes David Shonfield

On Friday their match against Empoli turned into a virtual training session, Napoli running out 5-1 winners after the visitors had pulled them back to 2-1 early in the second half. A hat-trick from Belgian striker Dries Mertens confirmed his recent fine form, and Ancelotti was able to rest half his first-choice line-up.

As he says himself: “It’s very rare to win by a margin of four or five goals against a small club in Italy, because everyone continues to be very well-organised defensively.”

There could hardly be a starker contrast with the French league, where PSG put five past supposed title rivals Lyon last month and followed that with another five against Amiens. They were given a tougher time by Lille on Friday, but goals from Kylian Mbappe and Neymar saw them home, and as a result PSG start November already virtually assured of retaining their league title.

Bread and butter matches are an essential part of any league campaign of course, but in PSG’s case the bread and butter is so soft that they appear to find it hard to adjust to the meatier challenge of the Champions League. They were dysfunctional at Anfield and they only just managed to salvage a point at home to Napoli two weeks ago, with an equaliser from Angel Di Maria three minutes into added time.

Ancelotti would have taken that point in Paris before the game and rates his former club as genuine contenders: “They’re among the best in Europe. They can win the Champions League, that’s certain.”

And PSG’s strength in depth plus the sparkling form of Mbappe — 15 goals so far, nine in his last seven matches — mean that late leveller in Paris could prey on Neapolitan minds.

A packed San Paolo will generate a fantastic atmosphere tonight, especially if Gigi Buffon is in goal for PSG.

Though hugely respected, Buffon personifies Juventus, and for Napoli (and indeed for Naples) Juve are the ultimate enemy. Turin and Naples is a rivalry that stretches back generations, even back to the time before the unification of Italy more than 150 years ago. There have been extra security precautions for this game, and a PSG delegation travelled in advance of the team to check the arrangements. The atmosphere should help Napoli, but Ancelotti is concerned his inexperienced players might be carried away.

“Mbappe is the number one candidate to succeed Messi and Ronaldo, along with Neymar,” he says, and he’s also wary that Edinson Cavani might be especially motivated by his return to the stadium where he made his name. He’s been back once before with PSG, in 2014, but that was a friendly. For the record, the star that night was Napoli playmaker Marek Hamsik, but the two sides were very different.

Ever the perfectionist, Ancelotti was concerned about slack defending in Friday’s 5-1 win.

“Empoli overloaded their attack and we suffered as a result,” he said after the game. “It was a warning signal: We have to defend better against PSG.” Empoli sacked manager Aurelio Andreazzoli last night.

Not since his earliest days at Parma has Ancelotti been in charge of an ‘outsider’ and he seems to relish another type of challenge.

“Fundamentally the work is the same,” he says, “the real difference is the project. At Milan, Chelsea, Paris, Real or Bayern you are there to win things immediately. At Napoli the project is to continue (the club’s) progression.

The journey is as important as the destination. Fourteen years ago Napoli were in the third division. Step by step, stone by stone, the club has progressed to become runners-up in Italy, and reach the top 15 in the Uefa rankings. During that period, Napoli have won two Italian cups and one supercup — that’s all.

“However, all the coaches who have been at the club departed leaving an excellent impression. That signifies that here they don’t only judge you on results. My hope is to continue that progression. Perhaps to the point of winning something important, who knows?

“The win against Liverpool was important, maybe a key game. We proved to ourselves that we were capable of matching up to the best. Against a team like Liverpool, you have to be mindful that there is a good chance you may struggle, but also think you have a possibility of winning.

“It’s a similar thing with Paris: It’s probable you can lose, but you have to believe very strongly you can win. The worry is victory over Liverpool was a proof for us we were competitive, but also demonstrated it to others!”

On paper, PSG are still just favourites to win and also to go through, especially as Napoli’s final game is at Anfield. But this group remains tantalisingly in the balance.