Marianucci fails the Turin test after defensive collapse
The Napoli defender starts well in the first half but collapses significantly after the break, when moved to fullback. A red card for a rash challenge ends an evening that started much differently.
Luca Marianucci experienced firsthand the gulf between the opening 45 minutes and the remainder of the Turin clash. In the early stages, the Napoli centre-back plays with composure, containing Kolo Muani's forward runs with relative ease. A caution picked up in the first half would however prove consequential for what lay ahead.
The second half brings the turning point: a tactical reshuffle positions him as a fullback, and from that moment onward his performance unravels. The space given by the ex-Bologna player allows the Bosnian attacker to register a well-struck goal. Shortly after, Marianucci arrives late on Cabal, brings him down, and there is no reprieve—a straight red. A sequence of events that swiftly transforms what began as a credible display in a high-stakes fixture into an examination failed at the borderline between adequate and inadequate.