Italian media give their thoughts on Napoli’s Scott McTominay’s performance in the Champions League
Former Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay endured a difficult reunion with Jose Mourinho on Wednesday night. The Napoli star watched his team lose 2-0 to Benfica in Lisbon, dealing a huge blow to the Italian side’s Champions League hopes.
McTominay has been one of manager Antonio Conte’s most impressive players since leaving Old Trafford in 2024. However, he struggled to reproduce his typical form as the reigning Serie A champions suffered three consecutive away defeats in Europe.
Napoli manager Antonio Conte criticized the short recovery time after Sunday’s win over Juventus, pointing out that Benfica could have benefited from an extra two days of rest. However, Mourinho dismissed Conte’s claims after the final whistle.
“It sounds like an excuse to say Benfica were physically fresher,” he said. “We interpreted the game well and decided to use Ivanovic up front instead of Pavlidis. That changed the way we attacked.”
Mourinho added: “The players showed character, intelligence and the Benfica mentality, which means stepping up when faced with the biggest challenges. We knew that if we didn’t win here we would be eliminated, but now with six points we are moving forward.”
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As a result, Napoli are now in 23rd place, just outside the play-offs, with Benfica trailing by one point. Italian media have given their verdict on McTominay’s attitude towards the former United manager.
Gazzetta dello Sport
Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport detailed how McTominay contributed to Benfica’s two goals. Richard Ríos’ first goal came from a rebound that involved McTominay and Benfica striker Ivanovic, but he too was unable to find his target and Leandro Barreiro made it 2-0.
The Scotland international was “constantly forced to chase” as part of a tired Napoli side that was “tired and lacking pace and ideas”. Some of the criticism stemmed from the team’s tough match list.
However, the match report was scathing about the performances of McTominay and United loanee Rasmus Højlund, stating: “In other words, McTominay, who is usually the driving force, is his replacement, and Højlund, who killed the Old Lady, never appears.”
Corriere dello Sport
Corriere dello Sport’s match report also highlighted McTominay’s defensive weaknesses during the match. It read, “The main character is used to being on the cover, but for different reasons.”
The former United midfielder was noted for “feeling fearfully into the box, without getting up with his usual intensity and physicality” before being involved in Rios’ opening goal. In the second attack, McTominay was “chasing” Rios, and his assist doubled the scoreline.
The match report summed up Napoli’s lackluster performance, saying: “The battery was so low that they had little will to fight, almost no hunger.”
Regarding McTominay’s influence, the Corriere dello Sport newspaper said: “The Scotsman was never seen and was not even in Naples.”
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