Despite a promising start to the season wherein Napoli even aspired to a Champions League spot, the Partenopei went on to plummet in the league table during the second half of the season and ultimately finish at a lowly 12th place.

Prior to the ongoing campaign, owner Aurelio De Laurentiis had set his sights on a top six finish. The movie mogul wanted to see a more disciplined squad as opposed to last season, wherein there was much speculation over whether or not the stars were too young to handle the pressure the fanatic city of Naples was putting on them.

In spite of Europe's powerhouses trying to lure away stars such as Marek Hamsik, Ezequiel Lavezzi, and Fabiano Santacroce, the club managed to hold on to their key-players-and add quite a few more.

Napoli had one of Serie A's most impressive mercatos as they spent around £30 million in order to secure the services of Morgan De Sanctis, Hugo Campagnaro, Juan Zuñiga, Daniele Mannini, Luca Cigarini, and Fabio Quagliarella.