Allegri Reveals Fresh De Bruyne Clash as Napoli Crumble 3-1 at Villarreal
Napoli's Champions League campaign lurched from bad to worse on Tuesday night as Max Allegri's side surrendered a 1-0 lead and crumbled to a 3-1 defeat at Villarreal, leaving the Partenopei with zero points from their opening two group fixtures.
The Italians had gone ahead through Amir Rrahmani but fell apart amid a string of self-inflicted errors, a collapse that left Allegri visibly furious on the touchline.
'You Cannot Concede the Second Straight Away'
The game turned on a horrendous Matteo Politano back-pass that allowed Georges Mikautadze to equalise. Moments later Santiago Mouriño lashed in a scorcher from distance, before Tani Oluwaseyi finished off the rout to make it 3-1.
"Champions League football is like this, you try to do your best, but once it is 1-1, you cannot concede the second straight away," Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
"We had a series of short passes in midfield that made no sense, they gave Villarreal time to press us, then it left Rafa Marin isolated under pressure for the shot. In the Champions League, you will have moments under pressure, but you cannot lose your way immediately and concede another immediately."
Back Three Backfires After Frosinone Success
The switch to a three-man defence appeared to work in the weekend's 3-0 Serie A win over Frosinone, but against Villarreal it left Napoli wide open to counter-attacks and exposed the lack of pace in their back line.
"The characteristics of a team that knows its strength is that it doesn't get stretched out, lots of players tried to sort it out themselves individually," Allegri said. "I already said against Frosinone that we had four or five more chances where we made the wrong decisions in the final third, and we did that all again this evening."
Napoli's European misery now stands at two defeats from two — a 1-0 home loss to Arsenal followed by this 3-1 reverse in Spain — and Allegri admitted the performance against Villarreal was a clear step backwards.
"We can still do it, we need to knuckle down and get the points we need to go through. You can lose games, but not like this. We lacked patience and didn't keep the ball," he continued.
Defensive Duties and a Half-Time Clash
In the studio, former coach Fabio Capello complained that the Italian art of defending has been lost, and Allegri agreed.
"It has become almost something to be ashamed of, knowing how to defend. Our defenders did well today, but if the midfield doesn't press or help out, you're going to struggle. You need to win the ball back and then use it well," he said.
"We gifted the first goal, but we always seem to allow shots from distance, and that's a team issue."
The tension between Allegri and Kevin De Bruyne spilled over during the half-time break, with the pair seen in animated discussion. Asked what they were debating, Allegri was blunt:
"At one point I asked him to drop back and push McTominay further forward, as he has more technique and McTominay is more useful in attack, but we didn't understand each other."
The exchange echoes the messaging after the Frosinone victory, with Allegri reiterating his belief that De Bruyne should operate as a deep-lying playmaker — a role the Belgian has admitted he is not a fan of.
"If you defend well in midfield, naturally it gives you an advantage going forward," Allegri added. "We've had attacking situations all season, but we allow too many shots on goal, so we need to find a balance. Defensive solidity does not mean defending in front of your penalty area, it means not being stretched out constantly and having to run around all the time.
"It also means if you don't take your chances when in attacking situations, you will suffer one on one and have to track back."