Napoli get just one shot on target in 0-0 draw with Verona

Napoli's Kim Min-jae, left, in action with Hellas Verona's Adolfo Gaich during a Serie A match at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples on Sunday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

More often hailed as unbeatable, unstoppable and untouchable this season, SSC Napoli veered sharply into the unimpressive column on Saturday as they managed just one shot on target in a 0-0 draw with 18th-place Verona.

The draw, the third disappointing result in a row for Napoli, stands in stark contrast with the rest of the club’s 2022-23 season.

Napoli, considered one of the best teams in Europe this season, lead Serie A with 24 wins, three draws and three losses and are currently competing in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.

But cracks are starting to show in the Napoli machine. Two of those three losses came in the last month and a half — 4-0 to AC Milan on April 2 and 1-0 to Lazio on March 3 — while the draw this week marks the first since August last year.

In the Champions League, Napoli are currently locked in a quarterfinal battle with Milan, with the second leg to be played this Tuesday. Napoli are already down 1-0, so need to do some serious work in the home leg this week to stay alive in the competition.

The Verona draw could be blamed on manager Luciano Spalletti resting players ahead of that crucial Champions League match — Napoli have never progressed this far in the competition — but the track record of one win in four games across all competitions is still concerning.

Korean center back Kim Min-jae was not rested and played the full 90 minutes on Saturday.

"We had less quality than ever, we created some space but we were not good at playing in that space," Spalletti said after the game.

"A lot of difficulties came from the performance of Verona, a team accustomed to goofing around, even wasting time as they did tonight. We found a team that closed in spaces. We were not good at playing in that space, we didn't have the quality we usually have.”

After the Champions League game on Tuesday, Napoli will be back in action in Serie A on Sunday on the road at Juventus.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]