Napoli, 26 years later...
Paris Saint-Germain welcome Napoli to the Parc des Princes on Matchday 3 of the UEFA Champions League, 26 years after their only previous meeting in European competition.
Having eased past PAOK Salonika (2-0, 3-0 by walkover), Paris Saint-Germain locked horns with a European powerhouse in the form of Napoli, coached by Claudio Ranieri and featuring the fearsome attacking trio of Brazilian Careca, Uruguayan Daniel Fonseca and Italian mastermind Gianfranco Zola.
First Leg: 21 October 1992, in Naples
It was the first big European night for this generation of Paris Saint-Germain and despite a flu-struck George Weah, it was 35,000 Napolitans that were quickly feeling under the weather... Shortly after the quarter-hour mark, Mister George volleyed home Valdo's free-kick to open the scoring (16'). The Liberian then headed home Vincent Guérin's corner (35'). Zola hit the post in the latter stages (82') but Artur Jorge's side took a two-goal lead into the second leg: "We needed to play very well to win in Naples. We really played like a team and the score perfectly reflects the match. This is a big step towards qualifying, but we still have the second leg to come and we can't get carried away."
NAPOLI 0-2 PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
35,000 spectators
NAPOLI: Galli – Ferrara, Francini, Corradini (Policano 82'), Crippa – Pari, Thern, Mauro, Zola – Careca, Fonseca. Coach: Ranieri
PARIS: Lama – Sassus, Ricardo, Roche, Colleter – Le Guen, Fournier, Guérin, Valdo - Ginola (Bravo 89'), Weah (Calderaro 82'). Coach: A.Jorge
Second leg: 4 November 1992 at the Parc des Princes
Despite a surprise loss to Nîmes in the league at the Parc des Princes a few days earlier (2-3, 30/10/1992), Paris Saint-Germain always appeared in control against a Napoli that only had one real chance, late in stoppage time through Careca. Coach Artur Jorge was very happy with the performance: "We showed that we are a real team. We showed a lot of respect for modern football, and played a tactically solid game. If we keep playing like this, we will be very hard to beat."
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN 0-0 NAPOLI
43,605 spectators
PARIS: Lama – Sassus, Ricardo, Roche, Colleter – Le Guen, Fournier, Guerin – Valdo, Ginola (Bravo 89'), Weah (Calderaro 88'). Coach: A.Jorge
NAPOLI: Galli – Ferrara, Francini, Corradini, Tarantino – Pari, Carbone (Careca 61'), Thern, Mauro – Zola (Crippa 76'), Fonseca. Coach: Ranieri