Napoli finally qualified for the last 16 after defeating Braga 2-0 in the last match of Group C at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, Wednesday, December 13 in the morning WIB. Napoli also broke their record defeat.
Napoli appeared with a bad record at home to Braga. How not, Napoli lost three consecutive defeats in various competitions.
However, Napoli did meet elite teams in that match. After losing 4-2 against Real Madrid who postponed their chances of qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League, Napoli then lost 3-0 to Inter Milan. Finally, they had to admit Juventus' 1-0 advantage.
The bad record is certainly not a good capital when facing Braga. However, I Partenopei managed to get up to get out of the psychological obstacle of defeat by winning the decisive match.
The victory made Napoli firmly in second place with 10 points so that they qualified for the last 16 to accompany Madrid. Meanwhile, Braga, who is in third place with four points, got the opportunity to compete in the Europa League.
"Losing from the group stage is our target. Of course we deserve to qualify and this is certainly a good thing for us," said Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
"It's just that there's still a lot to be done, especially in some aspects. However, we look good so this gives us hope in the new year," he said again.
Napoli themselves only need a draw to qualify. With that advantage, they continued to play aggressively to win the game.
As a result, the game had only been running for nine minutes, Napoli had already taken the lead through Serdar Saci's own goal.
The goal started with Matteo Politano's cross into the penalty box. Saatci, who tried to block Politano, made a mistake.
The ball hit his heel so he slid into the net himself and was saved by goalkeeper Matheus even though then he could throw it away. But the referee judged the ball had crossed the line.
Winning 1-0 made the hosts even more excited to press the opponent. Napoli also managed to add goals in the 33rd minute. Striker Victor Osimhen broke into Braga's goal after completing Natan's cross.
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This was Osimhen's first goal in the Champions League because he missed the Champions League match due to injury. The 2-0 score for Napoli lasted until the end of the first half.
In the second half, coach Walter Mazzarri pulled Osimhen and Politano. Because the two-goal advantage was enough for Napoli and Braga had difficulty catching up.
However, Napoli's attacks no longer bite after Osimhen's withdrawal. However, Napoli can still end it with a win. They returned to winning ways.
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