Liverpool tie key for Ancelotti
MILAN: Napoli head for Liverpool on Wednesday for a Champions League clash which could prove crucial to coach Carlo Ancelotti’s future at the troubled Italian club. The three-time Champions League winning coach’s second season at the Stadio San Paolo has proved to be a complicated one, after leading them to second in Serie A in his first year.
His team’s fortunes have waned after the high of opening their Champions League campaign with a 2-0 win over reigning European champions Liverpool, with dressing room unrest amid friction between the players and club management.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis ordered the team to be confined to a week-long training camp earlier this month after a 2-1 league defeat to rivals Roma saw them slip to seventh in Serie A. But as Ancelotti voiced his disagreement with the lockdown, the players all returned home after a 1-1 draw against Salzburg three days later, which stalled their bid to reach the Champions League last 16.
“The relationship between the president and I is excellent and nothing changes,” Ancelotti had insisted, after saying he disagreed with the ‘ritiro’ or training camp. Film mogul De Laurentiis threatened to sell the entire squad and take legal action against the players after the dressing room revolt.
And the sanctions began to fall this week amid reports on Monday the players would receive hefty fines for breaking the lockdown.
Gazzetta Dello Sport reported that players’ salaries for the month of November — apart from those out injured at the time — will be cut by a quarter.
Brazilian Allan, who had an argument with Edoardo De Laurentiis, son of the Napoli president, will see his salary slashed by half, or 200,000 euros ($220,000). In total, players’ salaries will be cut by 2.5 million euros ($2.7 million). The club have also imposed a media silence with Ancelotti and the players refusing to speak.