Napoli have been dumped out of the Coppa Italia in the last 16 after suffering a 4-0 thrashing at home to Frosinone.
Quickfire second-half goals by Enzo Barrenechea and Giuseppe Caso put Frosinone, playing in the last 16 for the first time, in charge after Giovanni Simeone’s first-half effort for the hosts was ruled out for a handball in the buildup.
Napoli were shell-shocked and it was the visitors, currently 13th in the top flight, who added to the score in stoppage time. Walid Cheddira converted from the penalty spot after Giovanni Di Lorenzo fouled Francesco Gelli, before Abdou Harroui added a fourth to compound the hosts’ misery.
Barrenechea’s opening goal, headed home from a corner, came two minutes after the Napoli manager, Walter Mazzarri, had brought on Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. “Incredibly, we did better with the lads who don’t play as often,” Mazzarri told Mediaset afterwards. “We need to reflect on that.”
“I want to apologise to the fans,” he added. “I do not like the way we ended the match and we will reflect on it together tomorrow … Even when you are 2-0 down, you still have to remember you are Napoli. It is not acceptable to end a game like that.”
“Even when 2-0 down with 10 minutes to go, a goal could open it all up again,” Mazzarri continued. “Instead, we just lost our heads. Maybe it was making two big mistakes for the goals that got to us. It’s a pity, you can lose in football, but not 4-0. We looked like everyone was just doing their own thing.”
In the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund were held to a 1-1 draw at home by lowly Mainz to make it four matches without a win, piling pressure on coach Edin Terzic.
Dortmund dominated in a strong start, hitting the woodwork through Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and missing a string of chances. They took the lead through a Julian Brandt free kick in the 29th minute and almost added another seconds later as Marcel Sabitzer struck the crossbar.
The hosts’ wastefulness was punished two minutes before the break when Mainz scored with their first chance of the game. Sepp van den Berg, on loan from Liverpool, forced his header over the line to stun the home fans in Dortmund’s last match before the league’s winter break.
Dortmund toiled in search of an equaliser before Gio Reyna found the net in the 90th minute winner. His effort was ruled offside, though, leaving BVB with just one win from their last eight league games, in fifth place and 12 points adrift of the leaders, Leverkusen, who have a game in hand.
“The game showed those two faces we show too often in our game. We created many chances, could have led by more and before the break we concede,” Terzic said.
Elsewhere, Darmstadt fought back three times to earn a 3-3 draw at Hoffenheim. The league’s bottom club took a useful point home after Tim Skarke scored twice, including an 85th-minute leveller.
RB Leipzig dropped points in their pursuit of Bayern Munich and Leverkusen, as they drew 1-1 at Werder Bremen. Loïs Openda fired the visitors in front at the third attempt just after the restart, but Justin Njinmah levelled with a fine curling finish.
In La Liga, Antoine Griezmann equalled the all-time Atlético Madrid scoring record but his side were frustrated as Getafe fought back to grab a 3-3 draw. The France international fired the 10-man hosts in front just before half-time, after Stefan Savic had been sent off for picking up two yellow cards.
Borja Mayoral equalised soon after the restart but Álvaro Morata headed Atlético back in front. Griezmann’s 69th-minute penalty, which saw him draw level with Luis Aragones on 173 goals for the club, opened up a two-goal lead and the hosts appeared to be in control.
Mid-table Getafe were not beaten yet, though, and Óscar Rodríguez’s deflected shot from inside the box cut the deficit to one. Then, in stoppage time, Mayoral levelled from the penalty spot to grab a point after Rodrigo Riquelme was penalised for handball in the area.
The result means Atlético move above Barcelona into third, but are now nine points behind surprise leaders Girona and seven behind Real Madrid. Elsewhere, Sergio Ramos was on target as Sevilla won 3-0 at Granada in Quique Sánchez Flores’ first game in charge, while Sergi Canos got the winner for Valencia at Rayo Vallecano.
