Sports
Napoli Sack Coach Mazzarri Ahead Of Barcelona Clash
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Walter Mazzarri has been sacked by Napoli to become the second man sent packing by the ailing Italian champions this season, Italian media reported on Monday.
The 62-year-old took charge in November after Rudi Garcia was dismissed but Napoli have since fallen to ninth in Serie A ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 clash with Barcelona.
Slovakia national team coach Francesco Calzona is set to be hired until the end of the season and will be in charge for the first-leg visit of Barca.
Calzona guided Slovakia to Euro 2024 but has a huge job on his hands as he returns to Napoli where he was an assistant during Luciano Spalletti’s trophy-less first season with the club.
Calzona will reportedly keep his job with Slovakia and bring with him Marek Hamsik, Napoli’s top all-time appearance maker who was also the first man to beat Diego Maradona’s scoring record for the club.
Napoli romped to a historic third Scudetto last term but since title-winning coach Spalletti stepped down in the close season, chaos has reigned in Naples.
Napoli are a whopping 27 points behind league leaders Inter Milan after winning just four of 12 league matches since Mazzarri took over, collecting 15 points.
That is even less than the 21 that Garcia managed from his 12 league matches in charge, a total that had Napoli fourth when the Frenchman was dismissed.
The chances of Napoli getting back into the top four and next season’s revamped Champions League are exceedingly slim, even if Italy wins a fifth spot.
Napoli are nine points behind both fourth-placed Atalanta and Bologna in fifth, and have shown little sign of being able to claw back that gap, failing to score in nine of Mazzarri’s matches in all competitions.
It is a disappointing end to Mazzarri’s brief second spell in charge of Napoli, after helping return southern Italy’s biggest club to the upper echelons of Italian football between 2009 and 2013.
Mazzarri guided Napoli to the 2012 Italian Cup, beating undefeated league champions Juventus in the final to win the club’s first trophy in over two decades.
He left in May 2013 after finishing second in Italy’s top flight with a thrilling team which boasted Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marek Hamsík and Edinson Cavani in attack.
FC Barcelona may have sealed another memorable LaLiga title with a victory over rivals Real Madrid, but the Spanish champions are already setting their sights on even greater achievements next season.
Barcelona secured the 2025/26 LaLiga crown on Sunday after defeating Madrid 2-0 in a decisive El Clásico clash, marking the first time in the club’s history that they mathematically clinched the league title against their biggest rivals.
The triumph also handed manager Hansi Flick back-to-back league titles since taking charge of the Catalan side in 2024.
Celebrations erupted across the city after the final whistle, with players and supporters marking the club’s 29th Spanish league title in style. Some players joined fans in the streets of Barcelona, while club president Joan Laporta also joined the celebrations.
Barcelona’s success this season was largely driven by teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, who continued his rapid rise despite facing injury setbacks and intense public scrutiny during parts of the campaign.
The 18-year-old winger finished the season with 16 goals and 11 assists, emerging as one of the club’s most influential players. His performances, alongside contributions from stars like Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Pedri, helped Barcelona dominate domestically.
Despite winning LaLiga and the Supercopa de España, the club’s Champions League quarter-final exit to Atlético Madrid has left players determined to improve further next season.
Young defender Pau Cubarsí admitted the team is hungry for more success and is targeting every available trophy in the coming campaign.
Barcelona also received a major boost from goalkeeper Joan García, whose performances after arriving from local rivals Espanyol proved crucial throughout the season.
The club finished the campaign with one of the youngest squads in LaLiga and remains on course for a record-breaking points tally.
Manager Flick is already believed to be planning reinforcements ahead of next season, with reports suggesting Barcelona are targeting new signings in defence and attack as they prepare for another push for domestic and European glory.
Arsenal have announced that Beth Mead will leave the club at the end of this season.
Mead will depart after nine seasons with the Gunners, after her current contract expires.
During her time with the English club, she won six major honours, including the Champions League.
In recent weeks, Mead has been linked with a move to Manchester City, where her partner, former Gunners forward Vivianne Miedema, plays.
The 31-year-old made 258 appearances and scored 83 goals.
Mead isn’t the only player who will get to say goodbye to the fans this week either, as Arsenal play their final home game of the season against Everton on Wednesday night.
Earlier in the day, Arsenal announced that two more players will be leaving at the end of the season, in Laia Codina and Victoria Pelova.
Brighton & Hove Albion staged a remarkable comeback from two goals down to defeat Liverpool 3-2 in a thrilling Women’s FA Cup semi-final, securing their first-ever appearance in the competition’s final.
The Seagulls trailed 2-0 inside 22 minutes at St Helens on Sunday, with Denise O’Sullivan heading Liverpool in front and Beata Olsson adding a close-range second.
However, Brighton responded swiftly as left-back Manuela Vanegas pulled one back before the break.
The comeback was completed in the second half when Madison Haley headed home to make it 2-2 by the 54th minute.
With extra time looming and the tie on a knife-edge, substitute Nadine Noordam struck the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time, lashing home from 10 yards just six minutes after replacing Fran Kirby
Nigeria’s Super Falcons goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie played a vital role in preserving Brighton’s hopes, producing crucial late saves to deny Liverpool substitutes Aurelie Csillag and Cornelia Kapocs.
The Seagulls will face either holders Chelsea or Manchester City, the Women’s Super League champions, in the final at Wembley on May 31.
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