Napoli snap up Vargas

Napoli have announced the capture of Chilean winger Eduardo Vargas from Universidad de Chile. The 21-year-old has passed a medical and signed a contract, according to Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis.

"I must inform you officially that we bought Vargas," De Laurentiis told Radio Marte. "A few minutes ago I received a call from Dr De Nicola (the club's doctor), who has visited the player and given his okay on the medical.

"We signed the contract and won the competition for a very strong player. This is proof that we are constantly looking for young talents in the world that can help the growth of our team."

No details of the length of contract or the fee paid have yet been given. Napoli face Chelsea in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

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Napoli frustrated by Bologna

Napoli's title hopes took another blow as Walter Mazzarri's team were frustrated by lowly Bologna, who held them to a 1-1 draw at the San Paolo Stadium today.

Despite having recorded impressive wins over AC Milan, Inter Milan and Manchester City this season, Napoli have slipped up too often against supposed minnows. And it happened again as they needed Edinson Cavani's penalty to cancel out Robert Acquafresca's early opener for the visitors. The result left Napoli down in sixth and still 10 points off leaders Juventus while Bologna moved four points clear of the drop zone.

Napoli were straight on the attack and Marek Hamsik should have given them an early lead when picked out by Hugo Campagnaro's cross, all alone, 10 yards out, but his low finish was stopped by Jean-Francois Gillet.

The hosts were made to pay for that as Bologna scored out of nothing. Camapagnaro failed to block Nico Pulzetti's through ball and Acquafresca was left all alone in front of goal to beat Morgan De Sanctis.

Hamsik came close again as he worked space on the edge of the box, but his shot was deflected behind.

In the second half Bologna had a close shave as Goran Pandev took down a corner on the six-yard box, but with his back to goal and under pressure he failed to get the contact needed to turn the ball home.

Napoli started getting desperate and Salvatore Aronica tried his luck from fully 30 yards, but although he hit it well, Gillet held on. Drama broke out 20 minutes from time as Diego Perez was adjudged, perhaps harshly, to have handled the ball.

The referee originally gave a free-kick on the edge of the box but then changed it to a penalty on the linesman's advice. Bologna defender Andrea Raggi gave Aronica a huge shove in the mayhem and protests that ensued, but the referee didn't see it and it was left to Cavani to thrash home the spot-kick.

Captain Marco Di Vaio had two great late chances to snatch a victory on the counter-attack for the visitors, but he was tackled by Juan Zuniga the first time and De Sanctis denied him on the second.

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Mazzarri: Napoli are not a great team yet

Walter Mazzarri has insisted his Napoli side have significant room for improvement after seeing them draw 1-1 at home to struggling Bologna. The result left I Partenopei,  who finished third last season, sixth in Serie A, ten points behind leaders Juventus and seven shy of third-placed Udiense, who occupy the last UEFA Champions League qualifying spot.

And despite their excellent form in Europe’s elite club competition this term – Napoli took four points from a possible six off Manchester City en route to a place in the last 16, where they will meet Chelsea – Mazzarri has stressed they are far from the finished article.

“We are not a great team yet,” stated the 50-year-old, who assumed the Napoli reins in 2009. “We have to understand that and grow. It’s true that we have beaten Manchester City this season, but that was a real miracle.”

Bologna took a surprise 14th-minute lead in Naples through Robert Acquafresca, and with goalkeeper Jean-Francois Gillet in fine form, were less than 20 minutes away from victory.

However, a Diego Perez handball gifted Napoli a chance to equalise from the spot. Marek Hamsik, who had missed his team’s previous two penalties, gave the responsibility to Edinson Cavani and the Uruguayan striker thumped the ball home for his 11th league goal of the campaign (Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale tops the scoring chart on 13).

“A few things went against us today,” said Mazzarri. “Take Hamsik, who missed a one-on-one with the keeper. But a lot of our players were below par. The team wasn’t very lucid.

“More often than not, teams who come to the Stadio San Paolo defend in an exaggerated manner. And sometimes we want to attack so much that we then lose our balance.”

The two-time Scudetto winns return to action at Siena on Sunday, before visiting Genoa the following weekend. Napoli have not won away in the league since a 3-0 reverse of Inter Milan on 1 October.

Napoli legends
Click this Classic Players link to read about the superb careers of former Napoli players Dino Zoff and Diego Maradona.

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Mazzarri looks to refocus Napoli

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri is trying to keep his players from getting carried away with the UEFA Champions League by insisting he isn't interested in who they draw next. Naples was in party-mood in midweek after Napoli won 2-0 at Villarreal to qualify for the Champions League knock-out rounds with potential clashes against the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Arsenal coming up.

But Mazzarri just wants his side to concentrate on their next league game against lowly Novara on tomorrow night, particularly with Napoli trailing league leaders Juventus by nine points. "We're concentrating exclusively on tomorrow's opponents," said Mazzarri at today's pre-match press conference.

"I gave the players a day off (after the Villarreal match) because on a mental level they needed that. Obviously we want to claw back some ground in the league following our Champions League achievement.

"We're a strange team, we've beaten some of Europe's super-powers but we've struggled against little teams in the league which is why the Novara match is a challenge that must not be underestimated. We need to be hammers."

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