Celta rounded off their training camp in Italy with a draw against SSC Napoli in Castel di Sangro. In their final pre-season friendly, Ferran Jutglà’s second-half goal earned the Celestes a deserved draw against one of Serie A’s top sides with the league opener just around the corner.
Claudio Giráldez’s side faced an intense opponent from the opening whistle. Napoli controlled the game in the early stages and took the lead in the 11th minute, when Di Lorenzo headed home a perfectly weighted cross from Politano to make it 1-0. The Italians continued to threaten through chances for Alisson Santos and a shot from Di Lorenzo that struck the crossbar, while Celta looked to settle into the game against an opponent pressing high up the pitch.
After the break, the game changed complexion. Celta grew into the match as the minutes passed and found their reward in the 65th minute. A mistake in Napoli’s build-up left the ball at Ferran Jutglà’s feet, and he made no mistake in front of Meret to level the score at 1-1. From then on, the Celestes enjoyed more presence in the opposition half, with the score remaining unchanged until the final whistle.
The draw means Celta finish their pre-season unbeaten. They drew with SC Braga (2-2), beat Sporting de Gijón (1-0), drew with Académico de Viseu (2-2) and defeated US Sassuolo (1-4) before earning this draw against SSC Napoli (1-1).
Now, Claudio Giráldez’s side turn their attention to the start of LaLiga EA Sports. Celta will kick off their campaign next Sunday, 16 August, at 9:30pm at Abanca Balaídos against CA Osasuna, marking the start of the Celestes’ 15th consecutive season in the top flight.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
1 – SSC Napoli: Milinković-Savić; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Rafa Marín, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, McTominay; Politano, Højlund and Alisson Santos. Meret, Vergara, Spinazzola, Marianucci, De Bruyne, Lucca, Lang, Gilmour, Giovane, Mazzocchi, Obaretin and Garofalo also featured.
1 – Celta: Andrei Radu; Javi Rodríguez (Yoel Lago, 46′; Anxo Rodríguez, 75′), Abdoulaye Faye (Hugo González, 63′), Carl Starfelt; Andrés Antañón (Marcos Alonso, 63′), Aleix Febas (Miguel Román, 71′), Hugo Burcio, Álvaro Núñez (Sergio Carreira, 75′); Hugo Álvarez (Williot Swedberg, 71′), Jones El-Abdellaoui (Javi Rueda, 46′) and Ferran Jutglà (Iago Aspas, 71′).
Goals: 1-0, 11′: Di Lorenzo; 1-1, 65′: Ferran Jutglà.
Referee: Valerio Vogliacco (Bari section). Booked Carl Starfelt (19′) and Hugo Burcio (44′) for Celta and Mathias Olivera (38′) for SSC Napoli.
Incidents: Pre-season friendly played at Estadio Teofilo Patini in Castel di Sangro.
