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The Serie A side look a proper mess ahead of their Champions League match against Liverpool.
With a difficult 2-1 victory over pesky Crystal Palace secured, Liverpool now turn their attentions to the Champions League and to Serie A side Napoli, who they will welcome to Anfield on Wednesday evening.
For Napoli, though, focusing on Liverpool and football may be no simple thing with reports the club are in disarray, with a string of poor results leading to an increasingly open conflict between players, coaches, and the club’s owner.
To set the stage, Napoli are a side that now hasn’t won a match in a month—their last victory was back on October 23rd against Red Bull Salzburg, and since then they have a loss and five draws in all competitions.
According to ESPN, that poor run led to owner Aurelio De Laurentiis proposing a team retreat, the details of which are unclear. What is clear, however, is that manager Carlo Ancelotti was against the idea.
And the players fell in line behind their manager, refusing to go. Unsurprisingly, this didn’t sit well with the club president and Italian film producer, who has now begun proceedings to fine the entire team 25% of their salaries.
He has also banned the players and manager from speaking to the press, including while they are away from the club—which led to a player being reprimanded for speaking to the media while on international duty.
This club ban will be further tested with Ancelotti obligated to meet the press ahead of the Liverpool match per UEFA rules, with the club currently said to not even be considering lifting their media embargo.
