Conte prepares to hand full debut to Napoli defender in Serie A title fight

Originally posted on Football Italia | By Peter Young | Last updated Apr 16, 2025 7:01 AM ET

Napoli have suffered another defensive blow in the Serie A run-in after Juan Jesus limped out of the team’s 3-0 win over Empoli on Monday night, which means that Antonio Conte is preparing to hand a full league debut to Rafa Marin for the upcoming test against Monza.

The Partenopei are currently three points behind league leaders Inter with three games of the 2024-25 Serie A season left to play. All of Napoli’s remaining fixtures are against teams ranked in 10th place or below, and they have already beaten all of their upcoming opponents already this season.

Conte prepares to hand full debut to Napoli defender Rafa Marin

Unfortunately for Conte, there are two significant injury concerns at centre-back heading into the Serie A run-in.

Alessandro Buongiorno has missed the last two matches after suffering an adductor injury, which is expected to keep him out of the Monza game at least, as well, according to reports from La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Napoli are still waiting to hear back about the full extent of the damage suffered by Juan Jesus, but La Gazzetta dello Sport suggests that the injury is serious, and potentially season-ending.

With two of Napoli’s first three choice centre-backs unavailable, Conte is likely to be forced into handing a full league debut to Rafa Marin, who currently has 23 minutes of Serie A action under his belt since joining from Real Madrid in the summer.

This article first appeared on Football Italia and was syndicated with permission.

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