Calcio Weekender: Salernitana, Benevento and Napoli

Welcome to the Calcio Binge series, transporting armchair tifosi into the action on a weekly basis.

Following our mega-trip across four northern regions last week, we bravely set south for our Destination Calcio Campania binge. Touching down at Capodichino Airport around midnight on a Saturday makes for painful wait in line for a taxi. That is unless you’re brave enough to deal with one of the entrepreneurial Neapolitan gents whispering “taxi?” as you exit. The SSC Napoli sticker on the cab boot was older than José ‘El Pampa’ Sosa himself, enhancing the overall experience as we set off for our hotel.

Located five minutes ‘a piedi’ (by foot) from the Bay of Naples and across the street from Castel Nuovo, the castle built over 700 years ago, we stayed at Mercure Napoli Centro Angioino – great for bars, cabs, sightseeing and the Municipio metro stop. Toledo is the area attached to the Quartieri Spagnoli. It’s there you’ll find the famous Murales Maradona, a series we’ll cover for DC TV – stay tuned.

With Napoli in disarray following their brutal loss to Verona, all eyes were on Antonio Conte for Sunday’s late kickoff at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. We secured tickets online to see the match against Bologna FC, last year’s revelation that qualified for the UEFA Champions League, setting us back €75 each.

Pilgrimaging to the Murales Maradona is something we’d experienced previously, including the Scudetto celebrations of 2023. But when in Napoli, visiting the sacred land of Diego is like stopping by the cemetery to put flowers down for a family member. Incredibly, a pop-up drinks bar has been integrated, so we ordered our caffè and set up to record a quick podcast:

Entry to the Maradona Museum – just metres away – costs €15, highly recommended for members of the Maradonian Church.

No, I didn’t make that up, even Leo Messi, Ronaldinho and Michael Owen are self-declared, devout Maradoniani. Yes, there’s a video coming on the Museo. We even ran into JP, the talented Argentinian artist who makes many of the city’s murals. Where else would he rather be other than the Murales, painting portraits in the blazing August heat?

Napoli v Bologna, Stadio Diego Armando Maradona

Incidentally, JP predicted a 2-0 win for Napoli, which would have come true had Geovanni Simeone wasted his stoppage time opportunity. Gli Azzurri obliterated Bologna in the second half, running out 3-0 winners, handing Conte his first victory at the club. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia reigned supreme with a goal and an assist and Brazilian David Neres debuted with instant impact, setting up Simeone within six minutes of his introduction. The former Benfica attacker appears to be well worth the €28 million that Aurelio De Laurentiis paid. Romelu Lukaku has been added to the squad since.

There’s no stadium experience quite like the Maradona, formerly known as the San Paolo. After last season’s shambles – three coaches and failure to qualify for Europe – Serie A and Coppa Italia football is on offer there in 2024-25.

Weirdly, SSC Napoli (and most other Italian clubs, for that matter) never built a museum dedicated to their history. Intending to preserve decades of Partenopei memories, the Cammarota Antonio Museum (CAM) in Nola has shouldered the responsibility. The collection’s oldest piece hails from 1953, a jersey worn by Luca Comaschi. Francesco and Nico were amazing hosts. Entry is free and by appointment only, and there are hundreds of Napoli gems on display. For those interested, CAM is located in Nola, around 45 minutes by car from Naples city centre.

On Monday morning we hailed a cab to Naples Central Station to pick up our hire car, with Serie C’s opening round of the campionato an hour away. From here, we set off for Benevento, with a quick detour to record an interview at the CAM, to be released on DC TV during the upcoming international break.

Benevento Calcio vs Cavese, Stadio Ciro Vigorito

The region of Campania is home to many former Serie A clubs, Benevento Calcio included, last present in 2022 before sliding into the third tier, Serie C. With their fans banned from travelling, Cavese 1919, the side from Cava de’ Tirreni (near Salerno), was handed a lucky break with Alin Tosca’s own goal in the sixth minute.

Despite bolstering their attacking ranks in the summer, creativity was lacking for the Aquilotti, who played mainly on the counter. Free agent Daniele Sorrentino signed on after nine goals at AC Renate in 2023-24. Giuseppe Fella returned for a second stint, on loan from Palermo FC and scoring five times at Latina last season. According to Transfermarkt, the pair are the highest-valued Cavese players at €225,000 each, but the service into the final third was lacking.

Cavese coach Lello Di Napoli began his career there twenty years ago and was later elevated to assistant manager at Empoli and then Frosinone. The 58-year-old needs time to galvanise his side which has spent the past three years in the Serie D wilderness.

The fans at the Vigorito were treated to a spectacular finish in the season opener. Former Pisa defender Filippo Berra equalised on the hour mark, driving beyond teenage debutant keeper Valerio Boffelli, on loan from Napoli U19. Gennaro Acampora returned to La Strega following a spell at Bari, dispersing shots and set pieces right to left.

Finally, Marco Pinato lit the place up with a fine angled finish across Boffelli into the right corner, already equalling last season’s tally but in 27 fewer appearances. The highlights here on Serie C Now. Benevento secured the win – great for neutrals visiting the stadium that want to feel the emotions of the locals.

Before setting off for Salerno on Tuesday morning, we consumed the standard macchiati/cornetti combo at a bar by the Arco di Traiano, which you can read about in our Benevento, the Most Underrated Town in Campania piece below.

Salernitana vs Sampdoria, Stadio Arechi

Salerno is situated by the Amalfi coastline, an hour by car from Benevento, or 30 minutes if you’re an automotive lunatic. We encountered a few of those on the way. But with Andrea Pirlo in town for match day three of Serie B, we were pumped to get to the Arechi and collect our media accreditations.

Within 15 seconds of kickoff, Sampdoria conceded and the Arechi exploded. Loanee goalie Paolo Vismara (Atalanta) was indecisive in the penalty box and Simy capitalised on the 21-year-old’s mistake. And it happened in front of the Doriani away section. But their frowns were turned upside down when Gennaro Tutino and Massimo Coda assisted one another over the next 20 minutes. Battening down the hatches, Samp led 2-1 at the break.

Now under the guidance of Giovanni Martusciello, the former Catania and Empoli defender better known for being Maurizio Sarri’s number two at Empoli and Lazio, Salernitana stroked passes around and through Samp for most of the second half. Chilean winger Diego Valencia made it 2-2, then his Dutch replacement Jayden Braaf scored his second in as many matches, bamboozling Vismara for the winner.

The electric atmosphere at the Arechi lasted well beyond full time, with both sets of fans applauding each other before emptying out onto the Lungomare to see who could beep their Vespa horns the loudest. We highly recommend a visit to the Arechi, if not only for the dystopian appearance of the stadium under the lights. That and a beach holiday getaway. Get sushi at Banzai! Visit the cows by the Castello di Arechi.

Luckily, we got to ask Pirlo one of his last questions at a Sampdoria post-game press conference shortly after the match. The former Juventus coach was sacked this week after Sampdoria’s poor start, one draw and two losses – we’re looking forward to meeting his replacement, Andrea Sottil, on our trip to Genoa this weekend.

On the menu for Calcio Weekender 3: Genoa, covering Sampdoria vs Bari (Serie B) and Genoa vs Verona (Serie A), both from the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, 31st August and 1st September. Here’s what we did last week on Calcio Weekender.

There is no better way to spend your weekends as long as the destination is calcio.

Listen to our pod Italy, Football Clubs Of The South: