Remembering five of Napoli’s greatest nights in European football

I t’s hard to believe that Napoli were in the third tier of Italian football 17 years ago yet have played in European competitions for 13 of the past 14 seasons. Their run to the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season is their most exciting achievement since Diego Maradona lifted the Uefa Cup in 1989. They pulled off a dramatic comeback against Italian opponents on their way to reaching that final and will have to do the same if they want to progress any further this year. Milan have a 1-0 lead after the first leg of their quarter-final but, as Napoli’s history shows, the magic often happens at home.

In their first season in the Champions League, Napoli beat Villarreal and Manchester City to finish second behind Bayern Munich in their group, setting up a last-16 tie against Chelsea. The first leg of the tie would have a big impact on both clubs.

Napoli started the match brilliantly and could have taken the lead on a number of occasions but Paolo Cannavaro’s mistake allowed Juan Mata to put the visitors in front midway through the first half. Napoli could have folded but Walter Mazzarri’s side rallied to win the game 3-1. They put on a display that characterised his approach to the game; it was fast, dazzling and dramatic.

Ezequiel Lavezzi scored the equaliser, firing home from 25 yards out. Then came Edinson Cavani, shouldering home a cross from Gökhan Inler to give Napoli the lead just before half-time. The two goalscorers combined for the third. Napoli centre-back Hugo Campagnaro played a hopeful ball forward to Cavani, who battled past his man and set up Lavezzi to score past the despairing Petr Cech. Napoli’s speed and ability to hurt teams on the counterattack were on full display, with the wing-back