# 2017–18 SSC Napoli season

The 2017–18 season was Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli's 72nd season in Serie A. The team competed in Serie A, the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Champions League, and the UEFA Europa League.
In the league, Napoli set a new club record for points in a single Serie A season, finishing with 91, though this would only be good enough for 2nd place behind champions Juventus, with 95. Dries Mertens was once again the club's top league goalscorer, albeit with ten fewer goals than the previous season; he scored 18 in Serie A and 22 in all competitions. In the Coppa Italia Napoli were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Atalanta. In the Champions League, Napoli had first to navigate through the play-off round, successfully eliminating French club Nice with 2–0 wins in both legs, 4–0 on aggregate. However, having been drawn into a group with English club Manchester City, Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk, and Dutch club Feyenoord, Napoli finished a disappointing third, with four defeats and only two victories. As a result Napoli dropped down to the round of 32 of the Europa League, once again experiencing European disappointment as they were eliminated on away goals after drawing 3–3 across two legs with German club RB Leipzig.
This was Maurizio Sarri's third and final season in charge of the club after signing from Empoli in the summer of 2015.

## Players
### Squad information

    Last updated on 20 May 2018
    Appearances include league matches only
| No. | Name | Position(s) | Date of birth (Age) | Signed from | Signed in | Contract ends | Apps. | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 1 | Rafael | GK | (1990-05-20)20 May 1990 (aged 28) | Santos | 2013 | 2018 | 32 | 0 |
| 22 | Luigi Sepe | GK | (1991-05-08)8 May 1991 (aged 27) | Youth Sector | 2009 | 2022 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | Pepe Reina | GK | (1982-08-31)31 August 1982 (aged 35) | Bayern Munich | 2015 | 2018 | 111 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 6 | Mário Rui | LB | (1991-05-27)27 May 1991 (aged 27) | Roma | 2017 | 2018 | 25 | 2 |
| 11 | Christian Maggio | RB | (1982-02-11)11 February 1982 (aged 36) | Sampdoria | 2008 | 2018 | 233 | 20 |
| 19 | Hrvoje Milić | LB | (1989-05-10)10 May 1989 (aged 29) | Unattached | 2018 | 2018 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Vlad Chiricheș | CB | (1989-11-14)14 November 1989 (aged 28) | Tottenham Hotspur | 2015 | 2020 | 29 | 3 |
| 23 | Elseid Hysaj | RB | (1994-02-02)2 February 1994 (aged 24) | Empoli | 2015 | 2021 | 107 | 0 |
| 26 | Kalidou Koulibaly | CB | (1991-06-20)20 June 1991 (aged 27) | Genk | 2014 | 2021 | 123 | 8 |
| 31 | Faouzi Ghoulam | LB | (1991-02-01)1 February 1991 (aged 27) | Saint-Étienne | 2014 | 2022 | 110 | 2 |
| 33 | Raúl Albiol | CB | (1985-09-04)4 September 1985 (aged 32) | Real Madrid | 2013 | 2020 | 160 | 5 |
| 62 | Lorenzo Tonelli | CB | (1990-01-17)17 January 1990 (aged 28) | Empoli | 2016 | 2020 | 7 | 3 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 5 | Allan | CM | (1991-01-08)8 January 1991 (aged 27) | Udinese | 2015 | 2023 | 102 | 8 |
| 8 | Jorginho | DM | (1991-12-20)20 December 1991 (aged 26) | Hellas Verona | 2014 | 2020 | 133 | 2 |
| 17 | Marek Hamšík | CM | (1987-07-27)27 July 1987 (aged 30) | Brescia | 2007 | 2020 | 395 | 100 |
| 20 | Piotr Zieliński | CM / RW / LW | (1994-05-20)20 May 1994 (aged 24) | Udinese | 2016 | 2021 | 72 | 9 |
| 27 | Zinédine Machach | CM / DM | (1996-01-05)5 January 1996 (aged 22) | Unattached | 2018 | 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Marko Rog | CM | (1995-07-19)19 July 1995 (aged 22) | Dinamo Zagreb | 2016 | 2021 | 43 | 1 |
| 37 | Adam Ounas | RW | (1996-11-11)11 November 1996 (aged 21) | Bordeaux | 2017 | 2022 | 7 | 0 |
| 42 | Amadou Diawara | DM | (1997-07-17)17 July 1997 (aged 20) | Bologna | 2016 | 2021 | 36 | 1 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| 7 | José Callejón | RW | (1987-02-11)11 February 1987 (aged 31) | Real Madrid | 2013 | 2020 | 188 | 57 |
| 14 | Dries Mertens | CF | (1987-05-06)6 May 1987 (aged 31) | PSV Eindhoven | 2013 | 2020 | 170 | 68 |
| 18 | Leandrinho | CF | (1998-10-11)11 October 1998 (aged 19) | Ponte Preta | 2017 | 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Lorenzo Insigne | LW | (1991-06-04)4 June 1991 (aged 27) | Youth Sector | 2009 | 2022 | 205 | 48 |
| 99 | Arkadiusz Milik | ST | (1994-02-28)28 February 1994 (aged 24) | Ajax | 2016 | 2021 | 32 | 10 |
| Players transferred during the season ||||||||||
| 15 | Emanuele Giaccherini | CM / RM / LM | (1985-05-05)5 May 1985 (aged 33) | Sunderland | 2016 | 2019 | 20 | 1 |
| 19 | Nikola Maksimović | CB | (1991-11-25)25 November 1991 (aged 26) | Torino | 2016 | 2021 | 10 | 1 |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos. | Player | Age | Moving from | Fee | Notes |
| 1 July 2017 | MF | Jonathan de Guzmán | 29 | Chievo | Loan return | |
| 1 July 2017 | MF | Alberto Grassi | 22 | Atalanta | Loan return | |
| 1 July 2017 | FW | Roberto Insigne | 23 | Latina | Loan return | |
| 1 July 2017 | FW | Duván Zapata | 26 | Udinese | Loan return | |
| 1 July 2017 | DF | Juan Camilo Zúñiga | 31 | Watford | Loan return | |
| 3 July 2017 | MF | Adam Ounas | 20 | Bordeaux | €10M | €10M + €2M in bonuses if Napoli qualify for the Champions League |
| 31 August 2017 | FW | Roberto Inglese | 25 | Chievo | €12M | Player will remain on loan with Chievo for 2017–18 season |
| 11 January 2018 | MF | Zinédine Machach | 22 | Free agent | Free | |
| 23 February 2018 | DF | Hrvoje Milić | 28 | Free agent | Free | |

#### Loans in

| Date | Pos. | Player | Age | Moving from | Fee | Notes | Source |
| 13 July 2017 | DF | Mário Rui | 26 | Roma | €3.75M | Loan with an obligation to buy for €5.5M | |

### Out

| Date | Pos. | Player | Age | Moving to | Fee | Notes |
| 6 July 2017 | MF | Jonathan de Guzmán | 29 | Eintracht Frankfurt | Undisclosed | |
| 30 August 2017 | FW | Leonardo Pavoletti | 28 | Cagliari | €12M | |
| 31 August 2017 | DF | Ivan Strinić | 30 | Sampdoria | €23M | Fee part of Duván Zapata deal |

#### Loans out

| Date | Pos. | Player | Age | Moving to | Fee | Notes |
| 27 July 2017 | MF | Alberto Grassi | 22 | SPAL | Loan | Loan with an option to buy |
| 31 August 2017 | FW | Duván Zapata | 26 | Sampdoria | €23M | Fee part of Ivan Strinić deal; loan with an obligation to buy |
| 26 January 2018 | DF | Nikola Maksimović | 26 | Spartak Moscow | Loan | |
| 31 January 2018 | MF | Emanuele Giaccherini | 32 | Chievo | Loan | |

## Competitions
### Serie A
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Juventus (C) | 38 | 30 | 5 | 3 | 86 | 24 | +62 | 95 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Napoli | 38 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 77 | 29 | +48 | 91 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Roma | 38 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 61 | 28 | +33 | 77 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Internazionale | 38 | 20 | 12 | 6 | 66 | 30 | +36 | 72 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 5 | Lazio | 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 89 | 49 | +40 | 72 | Qualification to Europa League group stage |
* 1 2 Internazionale finished ahead of Lazio on head-to-head points: Internazionale 0–0 Lazio, Lazio 2–3 Internazionale.
* ↑ Since the winners of the 2017–18 Coppa Italia, Juventus, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners (Europa League group stage) was passed to the sixth-placed team and the spot awarded to the sixth-placed team (Europa League second qualifying round) was passed to the seventh-placed team.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 20 May 2018. Source: Competitive matches

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | L | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | D | W | D | W | D | W | W | L | D | W | W |
| Position | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Champions League
#### Play-off round
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MCI | SHK | NAP | FEY |
| 1 | Manchester City | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 15 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Napoli | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 6 | Transfer to Europa League | 2–4 | 3–0 | — | 3–1 |
| 4 | Feyenoord | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 14 | −9 | 3 | | 0–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | — |

### UEFA Europa League
#### Knockout phase
##### Round of 32
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Serie A | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Champions League | Europa League | Europa League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | BRA | Rafael | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | ITA | Luigi Sepe | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | GK | ESP | Pepe Reina | 47 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 6 | DF | POR | Mário Rui | 30 | 2 | 24+1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | ITA | Christian Maggio | 20 | 0 | 6+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | ROU | Vlad Chiricheș | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | ALB | Elseid Hysaj | 47 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | SEN | Kalidou Koulibaly | 45 | 5 | 35 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | ALG | Faouzi Ghoulam | 17 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | ESP | Raúl Albiol | 39 | 3 | 30+1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 62 | DF | ITA | Lorenzo Tonelli | 6 | 1 | 3+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 5 | MF | BRA | Allan | 50 | 4 | 32+6 | 4 | 0+2 | 0 | 5+3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ITA | Jorginho | 39 | 4 | 33 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | SVK | Marek Hamšík | 49 | 7 | 32+6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | POL | Piotr Zieliński | 47 | 7 | 14+22 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4+3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 30 | MF | CRO | Marko Rog | 37 | 1 | 0+28 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0+6 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | ALG | Adam Ounas | 13 | 1 | 0+7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 42 | MF | GUI | Amadou Diawara | 27 | 2 | 5+13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4+2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | ESP | José Callejón | 50 | 12 | 38 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | BEL | Dries Mertens | 49 | 22 | 35+3 | 18 | 0+2 | 1 | 7+1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | BRA | Leandrinho | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | ITA | Lorenzo Insigne | 48 | 14 | 36+1 | 8 | 0+2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 1+1 | 1 |
| 99 | FW | POL | Arkadiusz Milik | 17 | 6 | 3+12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||||
| 15 | MF | ITA | Emanuele Giaccherini | 5 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | SRB | Nikola Maksimović | 4 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 20 May 2018 Source: Competitions

### Goalscorers

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA CL | UEFA EL | Total |
| 1 | 14 | FW | | Dries Mertens | 18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 22 |
| 2 | 24 | FW | | Lorenzo Insigne | 8 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 14 |
| 3 | 7 | FW | | José Callejón | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| 4 | 17 | MF | | Marek Hamšík | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | 20 | MF | | Piotr Zieliński | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | 99 | FW | | Arkadiusz Milik | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 | 26 | DF | | Kalidou Koulibaly | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 8 | 5 | MF | | Allan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | 8 | MF | | Jorginho | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 10 | 33 | DF | | Raúl Albiol | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | 6 | DF | | Mário Rui | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | 31 | DF | | Faouzi Ghoulam | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | 42 | MF | | Amadou Diawara | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | 30 | MF | | Marko Rog | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 37 | MF | | Adam Ounas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | 62 | DF | | Lorenzo Tonelli | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 77 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 97 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA CL | UEFA EL | Total |
| 1 | 25 | GK | | Pepe Reina | 18 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 22 |
| 2 | 22 | GK | | Luigi Sepe | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 19 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 24 |
Last updated: 20 May 2018

### Disciplinary record

| No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Serie A | Serie A | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Coppa Italia | Coppa Italia | UEFA CL | UEFA CL | UEFA CL | UEFA EL | UEFA EL | UEFA EL | Total | Total | Total |
| 25 | GK | | Pepe Reina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | | Mário Rui | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | | Christian Maggio | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | | Vlad Chiricheș | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | | Elseid Hysaj | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | DF | | Kalidou Koulibaly | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| 31 | DF | | Faouzi Ghoulam | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | | Raúl Albiol | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 62 | DF | | Lorenzo Tonelli | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | | Allan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | | Jorginho | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | | Emanuele Giaccherini | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | | Marek Hamšík | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | | Piotr Zieliński | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | | Marko Rog | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | MF | | Amadou Diawara | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | | José Callejón | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | | Dries Mertens | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | | Lorenzo Insigne | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | FW | | Arkadiusz Milik | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 56 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 1 | 2 |
Last updated: 18 April 2018