With only 3 minutes of regulation time left on the clock, it looked like Rafa Benitez's Napoli were going through to the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League to take their place alongside the cream of European football. The Neapolitans had huffed and puffed the entire second half, but couldn't find a way past Arsenal's Wojciech Sczecsny. Then with 15 minutes remaining Pablo Armero was found costless on the left by Raul Albiol, the Colombian full back centred the ball for Gomzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon to exchange a quick one two on the edge of the Arsenal area. The Argentine hitman, with a swivel of his body and a swing of his left foot, found the bottom left corner of Sczecsny's goal. Cue the delirium inside the crumbling bowl of a stadium that is the San Paolo; if the result remained the same and Dortmund failed to find a winner in group F's other encounter, Napoli would be through.
But disaster struck for Napoli, Borussia Dortmund had scored with less than 3 minutes remaining on the clock in their clash with Marseille. Just over a thousand kilometres away from Naples, in the South of France, Kevin Großkreutz scored to give Borussia Dortmund the lead. A goal that would ensure the German's passage into the knockout rounds while knocking out the azzuri into Europe's second tier competition, the UEFA Europa League. Napoli now needed to score 2 more against Premier League leaders Arsenal to secure a place in the last 16. They did manage to score a second in the last minute of stoppage time through another former Real Madrid player; Jose Callejon deftly chipped the ball over Szcecsny after a brilliant pass from Lorenzo Insigne sliced open the Arsenal defence.
That was to be the last piece of action from a highly entertaining encounter in Naples. Viktor Kassai's whistle went and tears in the stands were mirrored with tears on the pitch. Napoli's goleador Higuain was inconsolable in his post match interview; the Argentine felt hard done by the fact that Napoli managed 4 wins from 6 but still face the ignominy of the Europa League, while the likes of Zenit St. Petersburg march on in the Champions League after collecting only half as many points as the Neapolitans. Arsene Wenger felt Higuain had a case; the Frenchman noted that the top 3 teams in the group collected an equal number of points but only 2 could progress.
Napoli were certainly unfortunate to have drawn such a difficult group. Unlike their debut in the Champions League in 2011, when they were drawn in a similarly difficult group, they were unable to muster enough to go beyond the group stages this time. If Napoli, however, had not had such a lacklustre European campaign last season in the Europa League, they might have been seeded in pot 3 rather than 4, and thus possibly drawn a more straightforward group. That was mainly down to Walter Mazzari's insistence on running Juventus all the way in the chase for the scudetto last season, while sidelining the Europa League. As it turned out Conte's men won the title at a canter, 9 points ahead of the partenopei. A strong run in the Europa League will definitely ensure that Napoli's future seedings in the Champions League, will be a lot less complex, due to the discrepancies with UEFA's allocation of club coefficient points in it's two continental competitions
When Benitez was appointed, the message from the club was that, the Spaniard was brought in to set the foundations for long term success, rather than short term. Despite the huge amounts of money spent in the summer transfer market, Napoli are still a largely inexperienced side. It is imperative that Napoli do their best in the Europa League even if it means foregoing their title challenge. Napoli's short term goals shouldn't be to win the league but rather to consistently qualify for the lucrative Champions League.
Their squad depth is certainly capable of a top 3 finish, while also building their European prestige with strong performances in the Europa League. Benitez did steady the ship at Chelsea last season, by leading the Londoners to Europa League triumph and an automatic spot in this season's Champions League and his legacy at Liverpool cannot be denied, so he is certainly the right man for Napoli's view of long term success. For Benitez there is the chance to win a second consecutive Europa League winners' medal and for Napoli's crazy fans, there is the chance to lift the trophy in Turin, at the Juventus Stadium; which will no doubt make the victory that bit more sweeter.