Napoli bank on Osimhen and uneasy truce to keep their double dream alive

V ictor Osimhen threw his arms to the sky as the final whistle went, then ran toward the man who had blown it. He waved an angry finger at the referee Federico La Penna, demanding to know why the match had been stopped while an attack was ongoing. Napoli were engaged in one final, futile, attempt to break a goalless stalemate against Verona. The crowd at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona shared loudly in his indignation.

The dropped points hardly mattered to Napoli, who still finished the weekend 14 clear of Lazio at the top of Serie A with eight games remaining. Yet this was a window into the Partenopei’s state of being as they prepare for a season-defining Champions League quarter-final second leg at home to Milan on Tuesday night.

First the good: Osimhen’s presence on the pitch was an uplifting sight for anybody hoping Napoli can overturn the one-goal deficit. This was his first game back from the abductor injury he suffered last month, and in 20 minutes on the pitch he produced his team’s best chance: a searing half-volley from the edge of the box that crashed against the underside of the bar.

And then there were the supporters. Ultras had declared themselves on strike at the start of this month, standing in silent protest through a 4-0 league defeat to Milan. Their grievances were many, and not uniformly held. Some were angriest about security arrangements at the stadium, ranging from restrictions on flags and instruments to a requirement for fans to join a membership scheme to buy tickets. Others were stirred to action by rising prices for Champions League games.

All of this was underpinned by long-standing accusations against the owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis: that he did not care enough about their team or their