Napoli, Buongiorno: "What an emotion to debut at home in the Champions League. But now we need to score."

Alessandro Buongiorno against PSV Eindhoven (Ansa)

Naples, November 7, 2025 - Whether it's a coincidence or not, since his return to the field, combined with the subsequent return of Amir Rrahmani , Napoli has rediscovered the defensive solidity of its golden days. Both Antonio Conte and Gennaro Gattuso have noticed this, having included the 1999-born player in Italy 's squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Norway in the United States , Canada , and Mexico . First, however, the Azzurri will be busy on Sunday in Bologna , aiming to defend their top spot in the league, but before that, Buongiorno himself was a guest on Radio Crc to discuss his personal and team situation.

The bitterness of the Champions League, the joy of the national team

Before returning to Serie A , the former Torino player spoke about the recent Champions League match against Eintracht Frankfurt : Napoli only managed a goalless draw, the second in a row at the Maradona after the one against Como , which risks complicating the path in the continental competition for Buongiorno and his teammates, who, however, prefer to see the glass half full, enjoying the excitement of their first time. "Against Eintracht Frankfurt it was my first Champions League match at the Maradona . Hearing the roar of the stadium was an incredible feeling, something I'd never felt before. I was happy with my debut. However, there is a lot of disappointment about the result, because given what we created and the way we played, I think we deserved something more. We lacked the goal, we could have done better in the finishing phase. We are working on it and hope to improve." At the moment, at the halfway point of the Champions League championship phase, Napoli is in 24th place , the last one to qualify for the playoffs, the minimum objective: a partial verdict but already indicative of the difficulties of a path that has already become uphill, but for Buongiorno, hard work is the right recipe to continue dreaming big despite the fact that in the first four matches of the most prestigious continental tournament they have only achieved one victory, that against Sporting Lisbon , another rather hard-fought success. "In the Champions League now it will be essential to have the right mentality and face all the upcoming matches at our best. As for the past, when you don't win or aren't able to express your game at its best, there is always bitterness, but we must try to find the positive side, identify the mistakes made and work on that." The discontent with what Napoli has done, or not done, and on a personal level in the Champions League is counterbalanced by Buongiorno 's satisfaction at being back in the Italy squad after last month's injury. " Gattuso 's trust is very important to me. He and I have been in touch lately, and I'm delighted to have been called up to the national team again. I hope these two matches go well."

The return of the top defense and the obstacle of Bologna

Gattuso himself will have noticed the exponential growth of Napoli 's defensive phase since Buongiorno 's return: an improvement also demonstrated by the three consecutive clean sheets after a rather complicated period that saw the defeat at PSV Eindhoven , to stay on the subject of the Champions League , their lowest point. That evening Buongiorno , unfortunate victim of an own goal, was not spared from criticism or insufficient scores, but from that moment on, also thanks to Rrahmani 's return from the infirmary, the music changed, as evidenced by the goalless conceding against Lecce , Como and Eintracht Frankfurt . "The three consecutive clean sheets are credit to the whole team, because the defensive phase is carried out with eleven men. We are very happy to have rediscovered this solidity. We always try to go strong because we want to attack the opponent and try to win back as many balls as possible. We are working hard on this and on individual duels." Almost as if following the principle of a short blanket, having rediscovered defensive solidity, Napoli has entered a sort of tunnel of offensive anemia . In the aforementioned run of matches against Lecce , Como and Eintracht Frankfurt , the Azzurri have in fact scored only one goal, with André-Frank Zambo Anguissa at Via del Mare : the last goal by a striker, in fact, dates back to October 5th , the day of the home win against Genoa . Despite everything, for Buongiorno the goal problem is not insurmountable. "We need to work on the build-up phase, but in particular on the finishing phase and to be more unpredictable. When I say work, I don't just mean the attackers, because we defend together and we attack together." The perfect recipe, defensive solidity and dangerous attack, Napoli must find on Sunday to beat Bologna at home, a feat only achieved by Genoa in 2025 . "They're a team that comes at you man-to-man. It'll be important to move a lot and try to find the right spaces to get to the goal. There will be a lot of duels, and we'll have to be ready." Both teams playing at the Dall'Ara are coming off midweek European fixtures: Buongiorno 's radio interview concluded by discussing managing such close-quarters challenges, both physically and mentally. "The recovery phase is crucial for a footballer. You need to manage your training sessions, but also what you need to do individually before and after training, so," concludes the 1999-born player, "gym, cold water, and rest."