In the Zone: Napoli 4-2 Ajax performance analysis

Group A leaders Napoli extended their record winning streak to nine games in all competitions on Wednesday by putting four goals past Ajax.

In this analysis article brought to you by FedEx, the UEFA Technical Observer panel highlights the attacking threat of the competition's 17-goal leading scorers, who secured an early passage to the last 16 with their fourth victory in the section.

Goals

1-0: Hirving Lozano (4)

Receiving the ball wide on the right, the Mexican winger drove inside, passed the ball infield to Piotr Zieliński and carried on running beyond the Ajax defence to meet the beautifully lofted, first-time return ball from the Polish midfielder. Lozano's finish was equally exquisite, a floated header over Remko Pasveer.

2-0: Giacomo Raspadori (16)

Zieliński was involved again in the creation of the second goal, combining with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia down the left before the Georgian slid the ball across to Raspadori, who took two touches before flashing a brilliant left-foot shot high inside the near post. With that, the 22-year-old Napoli centre-forward became the third Italian player to score in each of his first three UEFA Champions League matches, after Alessandro Del Piero and Fabrizio Ravanelli (both in 1995).

2-1: Davy Klaassen (49)

Calvin Bassey worked diligently in his full-back role all evening and he got forward to tee up Klaassen's fourth goal of the season, delivering a first-time cross from the left which the midfielder, running in, met with a fierce header from eight metres that had too much power for Alex Meret.

3-1: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (62, pen)

With usual taker Matteo Politano on the bench, Kvaratskhelia took his first spot kick for Napoli – following a handball awarded against Jurriën Timber – and he provided an emphatic finish, shooting high into the right-hand corner.

3-2: Steven Bergwijn (83, pen)

After Juan Jesus was adjudged to have dragged over substitute Brian Brobbey just inside the box, Bergwijn converted the penalty expertly, applying power and precision to beat Meret to his right, even though the goalkeeper had guessed the correct way.

4-2: Victor Osimhen (90)

With Daley Blind dawdling over a back pass to his goalkeeper, substitute Osimhen sprinted to close him down, nicking the ball and rolling it into an empty net.

Player of the Match: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

The Georgian international is enjoying a dream debut campaign in the blue of Napoli. He has scored in five of his last six matches for club and country and his assist for Raspadori was his third of the group stage. Overall this season, he has been directly involved in 12 goals in all competitions (seven goals, five assists), which is the most of any Serie A player.

UEFA's technical observer said of the 21-year-old: "He was dangerous throughout, teeing up one goal and scoring the decisive third from the penalty spot. His pace and dribbling created good goalscoring opportunities for his team."

Team formations

Napoli

Napoli set up in a 4-3-3 formation

Set up in a 4-3-3, Luciano Spalletti's men took a highly attacking approach with both full-backs, Giovanni Di Lorenzo (22) and Mathías Olivera (17), going forward – sometimes both at the same time. In midfield, Stanislav Lobotka (68) sat and controlled the game while André-Frank Zambo Anguissa (99) and Zieliński (20) joined in the attacks. Further upfield, wide forwards Kvaratskhelia (77) and Lozano (11) kept their width, albeit coming inside occasionally. Centre-forward Raspadori (81) concentrated mostly on running behind the Ajax defence.

Napoli's defensive formation was a compact 4-5-1 with a narrow back four to stop Ajax penetrating behind.

Ajax

Ajax's usual 4-3-3 set-up

The visitors set up in their customary 4-3-3 which morphed into a 4-1-4-1 when they were defending. In their build-up, they tried to open the game up from goalkeeper Pasveer (22) to his defenders and deep midfielders, while the full-backs sought to attack – Bassey (3) with more success. In midfield, Edson Álvarez (4) sat and controlled the game below the ball, while Klaassen (6) and Kenneth Taylor (8) joined in the attacks.

They defended with a relatively high line, leaving space behind. When the ball was won, it was passed quickly to midfielders and from there often to Bergwijn (7), who had the pace to get behind the home defence in transitions and counterattacks.

Features

The main focus of the UEFA observer was Napoli's attacking play. When the ball was won, they passed it quickly forward using as few touches as possible, and their wide players and centre-forward made excellent use of the space behind Ajax's back line in transitions and counterattacks

Their quality in the wide areas and ability to use space and penetrate behind were pivotal and the video above offers several examples, highlighting in particular the effort of their wide players in their build-up play, working together with the midfielders inside.

The first clip is of the first goal by Lozano, and it shows how he drives inside from the right before the fabulous combination with Zieliński, whose chip sets him up to head home.

Napoli's terrific combination play brought their second goal too, which is featured in clip two. Zieliński is involved once more. You see him drop to halfway, play a one-two with full-back Matías Olivera, and then combine with Kvaratskhelia, whom he sends away down the left before the Georgian tees up Raspadori.

This was typical of the way Zieliński created combinations that enabled Napoli to spring forward. As for Kvaratskhelia , he recorded 10 take-ons on Wednesday night – the same number as Kylian Mbappé and bettered this week only by Neymar's 12 (and, for the record, his 40% success rate was the highest of the three).

The third clip, finally, shows how Napoli involved their full-backs in their attacking play. They work a crossing opportunity for Giovanni Di Lorenzo, the right-back whose centre offers Osimhen a chance that he spurns.

As an overall reflection, Napoli played the whole match with real aggression, both in defending and attacking. They built up play systematically from goalkeeper Meret to his defenders and played through the lines fast.

Giacomo Raspadori is congratulated after his goalGetty Images

For Ajax, it meant another difficult evening against opponents who had beaten them 6-1 in Amsterdam a week earlier. Napoli, pressing high at goal-kicks and aggressively in midfield, did not let them play their usual passing game while their defenders struggled with the pace and dribbling ability of Napoli's wide players.

That said, there were positives. Both Blind and Klaassen said they showed more resilience than against Napoli in Amsterdam, with the latter noting: "We were determined not to go the same way as last week."

The UEFA observer praised the work of both Klaassen – for passing and linking up to good effect when Ajax went forward – and Bergwijn, whose pace made him dangerous in one-v-one situations and counterattacks. And thanks to that pair, Ajax became the first team to score more than once against Napoli since Verona on 15 August, the opening day of the Serie A season.

Coaches' assessments

Luciano Spalletti, Napoli coach
"It's important to always be brave in possession. Champions League football is like this, even tonight we saw it."

Alfred Schreuder, Ajax coach
"It may sound a bit strange having just lost 4-2, but I thought we played a good match. I have to admit that they are strong opponents. You see that in the way they play, in their tempo, in everything."