Spalletti splits Napoli and Højlund downs Juve: welcome to Serie A Bizarro World | Nicky Bandini

The man with the Napoli tattoo was met with hostile whistles on his return to the Stadio Maradona. Luciano Spalletti had the club’s emblem inked on to his arm, together with a Scudetto badge, after leading the Partenopei to their third Serie A title in 2023. The design made it appear as though someone had torn into his flesh, revealing his true essence, a connection more than just skin deep.

But then he accepted the manager’s job at Juventus. For many Napoli supporters this was the ultimate sin, joining the club they hate the most. From others there was a measure of understanding. Spalletti had been out of work for four months after being sacked by the Italian national team in the middle of an ailing World Cup qualifying campaign. The opportunity to succeed Igor Tudor in Turin at the end of October was a chance to get his career back on track.

Even the artist who created Spalletti’s tattoo asked: “What’s the harm?” Tracked down for an interview by the newspaper La Repubblica, he defended his former client, insisting: “Memories and professionalism can coexist.”

There is a famous thoroughfare called Spaccanapoli, which translates to “Splits Naples” and does exactly that – cutting through the historic centre of the city. Newspapers riffed on that street name to describe a fanbase divided in two. Amid all the whistles aimed at Spalletti on Sunday night, there were also supporters who applauded when his name was read out at the Maradona.

A parallel dynamic was playing out in the away section. Antonio Conte won five Serie A titles as a player at Juventus – not to mention the Champions League and Uefa Cup – then another three as manager. His name is for ever written into club lore, yet his decision not to return this summer, staying at Napoli to defend the title he earned with them last year, was received by some fans as a betrayal.

Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti and Napoli coach Antonio Conte. Photograph: Ciro De Luca/Reuters

How odd it all might look to a time traveller from even the recent past. Spalletti as manager of an underdog Juventus team, travelling south to take on juggernaut Napoli – champions in two of the last three seasons and now led by Conte. A footballing Bizarro World where the established dynamics of Italian football have been reversed.

Let’s make it weirder. The decisive player on Sunday would turn out to be a striker who hadn’t bagged a Serie A goal for two months. Rasmus Højlund opened the scoring in the seventh minute, applying the finishing touch on David Neres’s cross from the right wing. He then headed in a winner after Juventus had equalised through Kenan Yildiz in the second half.

Neres was once more essential. Cutting backwards from the right flank to get away from two defenders and on to his stronger left foot, he swung a gorgeous delivery toward the back post. Though Juventus’s Weston McKennie got in front of Noa Lang to win the initial header, he only succeeded in redirecting it toward the centre of the six-yard box, where Højlund arrived to thump it home.

Neres has been Napoli’s best player in three consecutive league games now, ever since Conte rearranged his formation into a 3-4-3 after the defeat to Bologna in November. A team that had gone more than 300 minutes without a goal has subsequently won five in a row across all competitions (albeit one of those was on penalties, against Cagliari in the Coppa Italia).

This new shape has allowed Neres to push higher, supported by Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who also appears liberated by playing once more as a wing-back instead of on the right of a back four. The Brazilian’s dribbling and crossing have restored menace to a team whose lines of attack were diminished by successive injuries to Kevin De Bruyne, Frank Anguissa and Stanislav Lobotka – not to mention Romelu Lukaku, absent since the start of the season.

Napoli’s Rasmus Højlund (third left) scores his second against Juventus. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock

Højlund, signed on loan at the end of the transfer window, scored on his debut then three more times for Napoli in all competitions by early October, but subsequently seemed to lose his touch. With hindsight it is tempting to wonder how much his story in Naples has been defined by the injury to De Bruyne – the player who set up half of those goals and described him as “quite similar” to Erling Haaland.

It’s a resemblance that others struggled to see. Højlund was coming off a season in which he scored four Premier League goals in 32 appearances for Manchester United. Haaland, to be fair, also endured his worst season in the English top flight, bagging a meagre 22.

In reality, of course, De Bruyne was discussing playing style, not assessing the two players’ quality. “They both like to attack the space,” said the former Manchester City player. “Erling probably a little bit more. Rasmus wants to come [and meet the ball].”

Conte has always appreciated forwards who are willing to drop back and help their team. But in recent weeks, Napoli’s staff have been working with Højlund on the other part of the equation, trying to get himself into scoring positions.

“We’ve been working in training on how to attack the goal,” said Højlund as he collected his man of the match award. “[Conte’s brother and assistant] Gianluca kept telling me to take those runs through the middle. And he was right.”

It bears remembering that Hojlund is still just 22 years old, a player of whom too much might have been expected too soon when he joined United for more than €70m on the back of a handful of breakout performances for Atalanta. Perhaps this weekend’s goals will mark the start of a more consistent run, or perhaps not. But five goals in his last four World Cup qualifiers for Denmark are another indicator of a player with something to contribute.

Conte was full of gratitude to all his players at the end of a 2-1 win that keeps Napoli top of the table, observing that he could “only keep saying, thank you, thank you, thank you”. Spalletti, meanwhile, was left to reflect on a night of complicated feelings.

“I get emotional easily,” he said at his post-game press conference. “But I also can shed that quickly and get back to what needs doing. I’ve come back to Naples often – plenty of times when you [journalists] didn’t even know about it. I have a lot of friends here.”

Yet his closing argument was less sentimental. “I would also like to point out that my story here was not just about the results we achieved,” he continued, “but also the money we brought in, which Napoli have used to rebuild a very strong team. I know what good work we did in building up the value of some players [who have since been sold for a profit]. Work that created economic advantages for an even brighter future.”

One in which Napoli get to play the favourites against underdogs Juventus. A fun line, that needs balancing with the reality that the Bianconeri have spent more than €300m on transfer fees over the last three windows.

That was all before Spalletti arrived, of course, and he cannot be blamed for how poorly a lot of that was spent. Likewise, the eight games of his tenure in Turin are not enough to fairly judge him. What we can say is that his Juventus were well beaten on Sunday by a Napoli team who – after a wobble of their own – look serious once more about defending their title.