10 Charlie Sammonds, Assistant Editor
Napoli's Drone-Assisted Defense The manager employs a drone to fly overhead during training to record his side’s formation; defensive organization is better seen from above
sports performance & tech
WHEN MAURIZIO Sarri arrived in Naples in the summer of 2015 he inherited a defense that was, for want of a better word, broken. The Partenopei shipped 54 Serie A goals in the 2014/15 campaign, condemning them to a fifthplace finish and life in the Europa League. Fast forward nine months, and Napoli has the second-best defensive record in Serie A, only bettered by league leaders Juventus - and, frankly, Gianluigi Buffon and co. are frighteningly impenetrable at the back.
With 11 clean sheets from 28 league games, goalkeeper Pepe Reina has felt the ignominy of picking the ball out of his net far less often than Rafael Cabra last time around. In their Europa League campaign, Napoli have let in just five goals in eight games and are looking one of Europe's fiercest defenses. The side now move as a collective, and understanding in the back four is the best it's been this decade in Naples. In fact, only Bayern Munich have made fewer defensive actions (tackles, clearances, blocks) than the Italian side - don't take this as an indictment of a defense that isn't working, for the most organized back lines are rarely called into