Napoli vs Girona
Napoli have had an up-and-down preseason, despite mostly competing against lower-tier sides, and they plan to return to winning ways when they face Girona at Stadio Comunale Teofilo Patini this Saturday evening. After this game, Antonio Conte’s men have two more Club Friendly matches against Sorrento and Olympiacos before they open their Scudetto defence against Sassuolo later this month.
The Partenopei dropped their matches against Arezzo (2-0) and Ligue 1 side Brest (2-1) and won 2-1 against US Catanzaro and drew 1-1 against Casertana. Despite their inconsistent Club Friendly 2025 results, Napoli have had an eventful summer because of the notable moves they’ve made this transfer window.
Meanwhile, Girona are on a two-game winning streak after losing 2-0 to Marseille in their preseason opener. Michel’s group won 1-0 against fellow La Liga side Alaves and 2-1 against Wolves last Sunday evening.
The pregame Club Friendly 2025 odds back the Partenopei to win, even if they’re not in their best form, because they have a much stronger squad on paper. Overall, SBOTOP football fans at Castel di Sangro are in for a huge treat.
Talking Points
Napoli still working the phones this summer
Napoli fans must be fancying their chances of a repeat this upcoming season, as their team has had a productive offseason thus far. After letting go of a handful of players who were on the chopping block, including Victor Osimhen, they used the money to acquire several standouts like Kevin De Bruyne, Noa Lang, Lorenzo Lucca, Sam Beukema, and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
Moreover, Antonio Conte’s side is also keen on poaching Miguel Gutierrez from Girona, Juanlu Sanchez from Sevilla, to strengthen their full-back depth, and Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk to bolster their attack. The Partenopei have reportedly reached a verbal agreement for Gutierrez, while Sevilla are holding out on Sanchez. The team is also considering relaunching talks for AC Milan midfielder Yunus Musah.
Either way, Napoli have a solid squad, with Scott McTominay leading the way. The former Manchester United midfielder is coming off his best season as a footballer, scoring 13 goals and six assists to help Napoli win the Serie A title in his debut season in Italy. He won the Serie A MVP award and became the first Scot in 38 years to be listed amongst the nominees for the Ballon d’Or.
The Partenopei also kept their defencive spine of Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Alessandro Buongiorno, Leonardo Spinazzola, Juan Jesus, Amir Rrahmani, and Mathias Olivera, Romelu Lukaku, David Neres, and Matteo Politano in the final third, and Giacomo Raspadori, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, and Stanislav Lobotka in the middle of the park.
Key departures for Girona
Losing key players has been Girona’s downfall in the past few months. As mentioned, Miguel Gutierrez is closing in on a transfer to Napoli (of all teams), and Girona has let go of the likes of Gabriel Misehouy, Juanpe, and Valery Fernandez.
Meanwhile, they loaned Thomas Lemar from Atletico Madrid and Hugo Rincon from Athletic Bilbao. Lemar and Rincon could make their Girona debuts against Napoli. Adding Lemar is a huge boost to Girona’s thin midfield, which has Yangel Herrera, Donny van de Beek, Jhon Solis, and Ivan Martin. Rincon strengthens Girona’s defence, which has Daley Blind, Ladislav Krejci, Arnau Martinez, David Lopez, and Alejandro Frances.
Girona’s attack could cause problems for Napoli’s defence because they’re stacked in that position, with Cristhian Stuani, Portu, Joel Roca, Abel Ruiz, Yaser Asprilla, Bojan Miovski, and Viktor Tsygankov pulling the strings. The evergreen Stuani led Michel’s side in scoring last term with 11 league goals and two assists.
History
Saturday marks the fourth-ever meeting between Napoli and Girona, as these two clubs have faced off in an exhibition match for the past three years. Napoli and Girona have recorded one win each and one draw. Girona won 2-0 in their most recent encounter last year. Donny van de Beek put the La Liga side ahead in the 23rd minute. However, Giovanni Di Lorenzo scored the equaliser in the 80th minute before Toni Villa registered the matchwinner three minutes later.
As mentioned in the title, Napoli are fresh from winning the Serie A title last season, accumulating 82 points to beat Inter Milan by only one point. This was the Partenopei’s second Scudetto in the past three seasons, and Antonio Conte’s fifth as manager.
On the other hand, Girona were almost relegated from the Segunda Division last season after finishing 16th in the Spanish top-flight standings with 41 points, one point above 18th-seeded Leganes. Before this, Girona raised eyebrows when they finished third in 2023-24 (81 points).
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