Patrick Berg does not see Napoli’s slump as an invitation. He sees it as a warning.
“They can be desperate and fight with ‘beak and claws’, so it does not always have to be a positive,” the Bodø/Glimt captain told NRK after Saturday’s 2-0 win over HamKam at Briskeby in the Norwegian league. “It can swing both ways.”
Massimiliano Allegri’s side arrive at matchday three with no points, no wins and plenty to prove. Napoli lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal in matchday one and were beaten 3-1 away by Villarreal a week ago, and a shock 1-0 defeat at Venezia in Serie A has turned a mid-table dip into something closer to a crisis in Naples.
Berg’s own team is pulling in the opposite direction. The HamKam win was Bodø/Glimt’s fourth in a row, and the captain singled out the defensive side of the game:
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“We have performed well over time and have taken fine steps, especially defensively.”
Knutsen plans an early flight south
Head coach Kjetil Knutsen used Saturday to begin shutting the match down for Naples. He pulled Berg off before the hour, rotated through his bench, and told NRK afterwards that playing earlier in the day had given the squad a straight route to the airport rather than a scramble.
Berg said the group had been grateful for the sequencing.
“We save ourselves time and energy by just going straight to Italy and getting a few quiet days there,” the captain said.
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Knutsen conceded the attack had not been clinical and said the team “need to convert a few more of the big chances into goals” in Italy. Striker Ole Didrik Blomberg, who put Bodø/Glimt ahead against HamKam before taking two kicks to the same spot, left the pitch injured, and the coach would only say he hoped to have him available on Tuesday.
A travel advisory in the fans’ pockets
Away from the pitch, the club’s own supporters have been handed a different kind of brief. Bodø/Glimt issued a safety advisory to travelling fans ahead of the trip, written in coordination with the Italian police.
“For your own safety and that of all fellow supporters, both we and the Italian police advise you not to appear in public wearing Glimt gear,” the club wrote.
Fans have been told to keep club colours hidden until they are inside the away section, to carry a neutral jacket for the walk out of the stadium, to use organised buses from the city centre rather than making their own way, and to expect to be held inside the ground for around an hour after the final whistle.
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The context is a run of serious incidents around matches in Naples. A Chelsea supporter was stabbed in the city centre before a Champions League tie in January 2026, and the clashes with Eintracht Frankfurt fans in 2023 are still cited in security briefings for visiting clubs. “Be aware that we are guests in a city where football is more than a sport,” the club told its own supporters.
Kick-off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona is at 8pm local time on Tuesday, 20 October. Napoli are expected to recall Kevin De Bruyne to the starting line-up after he was left on the bench against Venezia.
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