Maurizio Sarri is convinced Wednesday’s Champions League Group F opponent Manchester City is the greatest team in Europe.
The Napoli manager witnessed the slick one-touch passing and swift tempo of Pep Guardiola’s side first-hand when he took his outfit to the Etihad Stadium on Oct. 17. Manchester City won 2-1, and was particularly dominant in the first half.
Sarri told BBC Sport he identifies the Premier League leader as “the best team in Europe, led by the best coach in Europe” as he prepares to stymie City in the midweek clash. Guardiola’s men require a draw or a win at the Stadio San Paolo to book their route into the knockout rounds with two matches to spare.
The first meeting between the two teams garnered plenty of attention due to the similar tactical approaches of the coaches. Although Guardiola and Sarri took very different routes to their current managerial posts, both are advocates of attacking, on-the-floor football and a relentless high press.
Related: Guardiola, Sarri take vastly different paths to Champions League tilt
Guardiola previously described Sarri as “one of the coaches I admire the most.”
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
“They have a devastating force of impact on matches and they have scored so many of their goals in the first 20 minutes,” Sarri continued.
“Their matches have all been over by the 70th minute. They deserve great credit for what they did in the first match, no one has escaped our pressing like that.”
Sarri is understandably wary about City’s visit. The Lancashire club has won 14 matches and drawn once so far this season, and in its other Group F fixtures, City dismissed Feyenoord and Shakhtar Donetsk with an aggregate scoreline of 6-0.
In an effort to ensure a heated atmosphere doesn’t boil over at the Stadio San Paolo, fans will be asked to remove their belts before entering the venue, according to BBC Sport’s Simon Stone. A Napoli fan was jailed for five months after using a belt to attack supporters in a pub near the Etihad Stadium two weeks ago.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In a span of seven minutes, Marcell Dareus used the words shocking, overwhelming and emotional to describe what he’s felt since he was traded to the Jaguars on Friday evening.
From the phone call from the Buffalo Bills informing him of the trade to his arrival in Jacksonville amid the annual Florida-Georgia game at EverBank Field to meeting the coaching staff to quiet moments in his hotel room, Dareus said he was still trying to adjust even as he participated in his first practice Monday morning.
“I still haven’t gotten over it yet,” Dareus said. “I’m still in shock. I’m shocked for a trade. I’m shocked that this defense, this team … I’m still just taking it all in. It’s three days, man. Three days.”
The Jaguars’ newest defensive tackle said he had an idea that something may have been in the works last week but he continued to prepare for the Bills’ home game against Oakland. When he was told he was headed to Jacksonville in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2018, things started to happen pretty quickly.
Friends and teammates stopped by his home on Friday night to say goodbye, and on Saturday morning he was headed to the airport with a one-way ticket.
“I still haven’t gotten over it yet. I’m still in shock. I’m shocked for a trade. I’m shocked that this defense, this team … I’m still just taking it all in. It’s three days, man. Three days.”
Marcell Dareus
“Little overwhelming,” Dareus said. “Kind of saw some things happening but at the same time I was getting prepared for the game and we had a game plan in and I was practicing all week and I’m just zoned in, trying to keep negativity out. And when I got the call and things happened the way it did, I can’t lie it did make me a little emotional because I know [Saturday] it is a one-way ticket [to Jacksonville].
“It was so swift that before I knew it I was already in Charlotte and by the time I got to Charlotte, a blink of the eye and I’m here in Jacksonville saying hey to the coaches, the biggest cocktail party in the world, and with all that going on it was just — the world is spinning. Traded, on the plane, cocktail party, going to the stadium, saying hello, getting out, going to the hotel room laying on the bed looking at the roof: What is going on?”
Dareus isn’t completely unfamiliar with the Jaguars. Doug Marrone was the head coach and Nathaniel Hackett the offensive coordinator in Buffalo in 2013-14. Jason Rebrovich is the Jaguars’ assistant defensive line coach and he was a quality control/assistant defensive line coach under Marrone in Buffalo, too.
That at least helped to somewhat lessen the shock, but he’s now caught up in learning the Jaguars’ defensive system and finding out where he fits in. The Jaguars are last in the NFL against the run (138.6 yards per game) and no team has allowed more than their 5.2 yards per rush. The 6-foot-3, 331-pound Dareus gets headlines because of his prowess as an interior pass-rusher (35 sacks in six-plus seasons) but he’s one of the league’s better run-stuffing tackles.
Dareus had his two best seasons under Marrone, racking up 17.5 sacks in 2013-14 and making the Pro Bowl in both seasons. The move does come with some risk. Dareus has had more than his share of off-field issues — he was benched for being late to a team meeting in 2013, was sent home from a preseason game this year for violating a team rule, was twice suspended for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, and he’s had two offseason arrests — but the Jaguars believe the help the Alabama product can bring the run defense is worth the risk.
“We’re all at risk, myself, everybody,” Marrone said. “I think some people get themselves in situations [and] you hope that they learn from it. If they don’t then obviously there’s consequences.”
Dareus said he’s glad to be getting a fresh start.
“I thought that Buffalo was home and extremely happy for everything I’ve done there, everything they’ve done for me, the organization,” he said. “… “At the same time it’s a business and this is where I am and I am thoroughly happy just to be a Jag. It feels good to be wanted.”
Radja Nainggolan insists he “never even thought of being somewhere else” despite constant links to a transfer to Chelsea.
The Roma midfielder will face the Blues in Tuesday’s Champions League group-stage meeting, and claims he’s content with his decision in the summer despite previously declaring the English top flight is “the best league in the world.”
“I made my choice and I’ve never even thought of being somewhere else,” Nainggolan told ESPN FC’s Ben Gladwell before the midweek clash. “I’m focused here, as I always have been.
“The question (of regretting not being a Chelsea player) makes no sense. Whether it’s against Chelsea or any other big team, each player gets motivated for games like these.”
Instead of signing Nainggolan, Antonio Conte added Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater to his midfield in the summer. Still, during recent injury layoffs for the latter and N’Golo Kante, Chelsea looked light in numbers in the middle of the park – a slot Nainggolan would’ve assumed with his committed tackling and inclination to drive forward with the ball.
Roma manager Eusebio Di Francesco said Nainggolan would start in Chelsea’s visit to the Stadio Olimpico, setting up the tantalising prospect of the Belgian squabbling with fit-again Kante and Bakayoko in the Italian capital.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — On a rainy day when Matt Ryan lost two fumbles, the Atlanta Falcons found a way to perhaps save their season.
It was far from a flawless effort at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets. But a team in the midst of a three-game losing streak just needed one break — any break — to go its way.
Such happened for the Falcons, who scratched and clawed their way to a 25-20 win with key plays from all three phases. Now at 4-3, the Falcons established a little momentum going into next week’s NFC South opener on the road at Carolina. Winning the division always is the emphasis for coach Dan Quinn, and now the Falcons have a chance to go make a statement despite a rocky start.
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What got better for the Falcons this week? Improvement in the red zone and third down was the emphasis leading into the game. The numbers might not reflect it — the Falcons went 5 for 14 on third down and 2 for 6 in the red zone — but they came up with a big third-down conversion when Ryan hit Mohamed Sanu for a 15-yard gain on third-and-5 late in the game. Ryan also hit Sanu with an 8-yard touchdown in the red zone fourth quarter that gave the Falcons their first lead; lead they didn’t relinquish.
Matt Bosher’s late punt that pinned the Jets at their own 4-yard line and Kemal Ishmael’s fumble recovery were two special teams plays that helped the Falcons to victory as well.
But nothing probably meant more to the Falcons then the defensive effort. There were plenty of third-down stops, with players such as Grady Jarrett and Adrian Clayborn forcing the Jets off the field in key situations. The Falcons forced the Jets to go 5 of 15 on third down. And the Jets never made it into the red zone.
The win, of course, wiped away some of the negative, like the Ryan fumbles, a drop by tight end Austin Hooper in the end zone, and cornerback Desmond Trufant getting beat for a touchdown. But again, the Falcons have just a little momentum now, which could be all they need to begin their march toward a second consecutive division title.
