Politano: ‘Napoli are fragile at the moment, but no alibi against Porto’
NAPLES, ITALY - OCTOBER 20: Massimiliano Allegri, Manager of SSC Napoli, talks with Matteo Politano of SSC Napoli during the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD3 match between SSC Napoli and FK Bodo/Glimt at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on October 20, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)
Matteo Politano admits Napoli are ‘fragile’ defensively and concede too easily, but mustn’t ‘use injuries as an alibi’ for the Champions League trip to FC Porto.
It kicks off at the Estadio do Dragao on Wednesday at 20.00 GMT (21.00 CET).
The Partenopei are playing catch-up in the tournament after one win and two defeats, but that is still better than their opponents, who lost all three matches so far in the Champions League.
Max Allegri’s side also stumbled in Serie A at the weekend, losing 2-0 away to Juventus.
Politano sees Napoli problems
“A difficult game awaits us tomorrow. It’s true that we have some injuries, but this mustn’t be used as an alibi, we don’t want alibis at this moment,” said Politano in his press conference.
“We are the only ones who can drag ourselves out of this situation. We’ve got to give our all on the pitch, because this is a fundamental match for us.”
The recurring problem for Napoli this season is how many goals they are conceding, and assistant manager Marco Landucci confirmed players backing off when defending is not something suggested by the coaching staff.
“When we concede goals, it’s everyone’s fault and not just the defenders, this is a team sport,” confessed Politano.
“We are fragile at the moment, we can’t seem to defend as well as we did in previous years. We lack determination in pressing the opponents, so naturally against quality players you are going to pay for that.
“We’ve got to come together as a unit and try from tomorrow to be more solid. We haven’t tested the line-up yet, so we don’t know if it’ll be three or four at the back, but it is no problem for me.”
Napoli fumbled a lead for the 3-1 Champions League defeat to Villarreal, and Politano made a very costly error with a howler of a back-pass.
“Unfortunately, we can do nothing about the past, we need to focus on the future,” added the winger.
“I challenge myself every single day to give more, I’ve won a lot with this team, but I’ve got to keep pushing. It’s not an easy situation, we’ve all got to come together and stay concentrated at all times.
“Porto are a strong side, they attack in numbers and know how to keep the ball for long spells, so there are moments when we’ll be pinned back, waiting to then launch forward on the counter.
“It is fortunate that we have the opportunity so soon after the Juventus match to prove ourselves all over again, we were lacking something that we need to show tomorrow.”
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.