Porto host injury-hit Napoli on Wednesday, 4 November, still seeking first Champions points

Porto still seeking a first point

Porto host Napoli at the Estádio do Dragão on Wednesday, 4 November, with kickoff at 20:00, in the fourth round of the Champions League league phase. The Portuguese champions have won all 10 of their Primeira Liga matches, but in Europe they have lost all three games so far: away at Manchester and Sevilla, and at home to PSV Eindhoven, which won 1-0. Porto share the bottom of the table with Lille and Slovan Bratislava, all three still on zero points. A win would keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout phase.

Coach Francesco Farioli says the team will approach the match with the same attitude they bring to every game. He describes the fixture as hard to call and expects the difference to come from the ability to decide key moments.

“We always go out on the pitch with the same mentality, to win matches.”

Napoli's injury list

Napoli, eighth in Serie A according to RTP, lost 2-0 to Juventus on Sunday, 1 November. Full-backs Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Mathías Olivera were injured in that game and are ruled out of the trip to Porto. Kevin De Bruyne also reported physical complaints and is a doubt. David Neres, Alisson Santos, Leonardo Spinazzola, Stanislav Lobotka and Benoît Badiashile are also absent from Napoli's plans. In the Champions League, Napoli beat Bodø/Glimt 4-3 and have lost to Arsenal and Villarreal, according to Il Messaggero.

Porto have their own absence to manage. William Gomes is unavailable, while Oskar Pietuszewski has trained with the squad. The coaching staff will take all the time available to assess his condition before deciding whether he starts.

Farioli on Napoli and Allegri

Farioli said Napoli's injuries will not be an advantage for his side. He has prepared for four or five possible line-ups, since Napoli's staff could start several different combinations. He praised Massimiliano Allegri for his ability to find solutions when a squad is short of options, calling the coach's main quality the placing of the right players in the right positions. Asked about past contacts with Napoli, Farioli said those have lapsed and that the future is unknown. He also said Serie A now has many new faces alongside experienced coaches.

André Silva and the Champions standard

Striker André Silva, a 30-year-old who rejoined the club that trained him nine years after leaving, rejected the idea that Porto's lack of points comes only from poor finishing. He said mistakes are punished more harshly in Europe's top club competition.

“We have competed in the same way in the Portuguese league and the Champions League, but I believe that in the Champions League mistakes cost more.”

Silva backed a message from club president André Villas-Boas, who demanded better performances in the competition in an editorial in the club magazine Dragões. He rejected describing the match as a matter of life or death. Silva also knows Napoli from his time at AC Milan and called Serie A very particular compared with the Portuguese league, with teams attacking and defending as a unit.