Hellas Verona vs Napoli

Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi sets the stage for a highly-anticipated 2024/25 Serie A day-one clash between Hellas Verona and Napoli.

Despite spending most of the 2023/24 Serie A season in the lower reaches, Hellas Verona avoided relegation in the penultimate round, finishing 13th in the table, three points clear of the bottom three. Disappointed with the team’s results and performances, the club parted with manager Marco Baroni at the end of last season, appointing Paolo Zanetti as his successor. But Zanetti’s competitive debut was an utter fiasco, with second-tier Cesena crashing ‘I Gialloblu’ out of the Coppa Italia last week. A 2-1 loss to sub-par opposition doesn’t bode well for Verona’s hopes of defying a disastrous H2H run against Napoli. The hosts have only won once in the last 15 meetings between the teams (D3, L11), a run which includes a 5-2 day-one home defeat in 2022/23.

In the meantime, Napoli went down in history as one of the worst defending Serie A champions. A year after winning their first Scudetto since 1990, ‘I Partenopei’ finished 10th in the standings, a staggering 41 points below table-topping Inter Milan. It was time for a change, and Aurelio De Laurentiis opted for serial winner Antonio Conte to start a new cycle at the Diego Maradona Stadium. Conte is eager to reinvigorate the fallen giants following the club’s third-worst top-flight finish in the 21st century. His first assignment is to improve Napoli’s dire form on the road, which saw them pick up just two away league wins in their last 12 outings (D5, L5). In search of good omens, the visitors have won their opening-day Serie A fixture in seven consecutive seasons since a 2-2 draw at Pescara in 2016/17.