Napoli inspired by in-demand Insigne
Lorenzo Insigne netted his 50th goal for Napoli on Tuesday as the coveted Italian forward helped his team book a place in the Champions League group stage by beating Nice.
Napoli was already leading through Jose Callejon’s goal when Insigne struck from the edge of the penalty area in the 89th minute to complete a 2-0 win on the French Riviera and send his team through 4-0 on aggregate.
Whether Insigne will still be at Napoli next month is unclear, with Barcelona among the clubs reported to be interested in signing him before the summer transfer window closes on Aug 31.
“I’m proud to hear that top clubs are watching me, but doing well with the Napoli shirt is something I have always dreamed of,” Insigne said on the UEFA website.
“I think we improved a lot, especially in terms of mentality. Hopefully we can also win trophies.”
The 26-year-old Insigne is off the mark quickly this season after taking three months to find the net last year.
“Lorenzo is an absolute talent,” Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri said. “At the moment he’s the player who best represents Italian football.”
There was a very different verdict on Nice’s Italian striker, Mario Balotelli, who was described as “highly inadequate” Favre.
Balotelli had been off the pitch arguing with the fourth official, leaving Nice with 10 men early in the second half, when the unmarked Callejon tapped in at the far post to put Napoli in front.
The former Manchester City and Liverpool player, who has a checkered disciplinary record, was booed by his own Nice fans when he was later substituted. by coach Lucien
Celtic held a 5-0 lead over Astana but the Scottish champion was given a scare in Kazakhstan, where it lost 4-3 but still advanced 8-4 on aggregate. The 12 goals over the two games set a scoring record for the Champions League playoff round.
“I have mixed emotions because we didn’t defend well enough,” Celtic coach Brendan Rodgers told BT Sport.
Celtic beat Hapoel BeerSheva of Israel 5-2 at home in the first leg of the playoffs last year and then wobbled in the return, losing 2-0 to scrape through.
“We had our Beer-Sheva moment,” added Rodgers. “I thought we were going to get through this campaign without the anxiety. The players were on the ropes for 15 or 20 minutes but then they regained composure.”
Kristoffer Ajer’s own goal in the 26th minute gave Astana a glimmer of hope of mounting a comeback.
Scott Sinclair leveled eight minutes later, but Astana goals at the start of second half from Serikzhan Muzhikov and Patrick Twumasi restored the host’s lead.
Twumasi netted again in the 69th minute to send Astana into a 4-1 lead but his team still required three more goals to go through.
The Glasgow club’s nerves were eased by goals from Olivier Ntcham and Leigh Griffiths in the final 10 minutes.
Sevilla is through to the group stage for a third successive season after drawing 2-2 with competition newcomer Istanbul Basaksehir to advance 4-3 on aggregate. Sergio Escudero and Wissam Ben Yedder scored for the Spanish side.
Rijeka’s first Champions League campaign in 18 years is over after Olympiakos built on its 2-1 first-leg success by winning 1-0 in Croatia. The Greek side will contest the group stage for the 18th time.
The lineup for Thursday’s group-stage draw will be completed on Wednesday. Playoff round losers drop into the group stage of the Europa League in September.
first appeal was rejected last week.
“It seems to me exaggerated and ridiculous, this is called persecution!” he said.
Ronaldo has already served two games of his suspension as Madrid completed a 5-1 aggregate win over Barcelona in the Super Cup second leg and as Real opened its La Liga campaign with a 3-0 win at Deportivo la Coruna.
Real will also be without its all-time top scorer for La Liga matches at home to Valencia and Levante and away at Real Sociedad.