(Reuters) - It is early days in the Serie A season, with Napoli going into just their second game, but manager Antonio Conte is already a man under pressure as his side prepare to host Bologna.
Last season's failure to defend their Scudetto led to the sacking of two managers at Napoli, Rudi Garcia and Walter Mazzarri, with Francesco Calzona brought in to finish a campaign where they finished 10th.
The arrival of Conte, winner of four Serie A titles as manager of Juventus and Inter Milan, along with a Premier League win with Chelsea, brought renewed enthusiasm and the hope that Napoli could return to the top.
Instead, Napoli began their season with a 3-0 defeat at Hellas Verona. Conte had already warned that it would take time to rebuild and Napoli fans were brought right back down to Earth after that performance and result.
Conte has been hampered in the transfer window, with the club waiting for an acceptable offer for want-away striker Victor Osimhen, but they did complete the signing of Brazilian winger David Neres from Benfica this week.
Before the opening-day loss, Napoli fans had seen their team struggle to a Coppa Italia win at home to Serie B side Modena, when they needed a penalty shootout to progress, and they will demand a much better performance when they host Bologna on Sunday.
Napoli lost 2-0 at home to Bologna towards the end of last season, going down to a side which took the league by storm under Thiago Motta, ending up in fifth place to secure Champions League football.
Motta has since departed, taking over at Juventus, with former Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Italiano now at the helm in Bologna, and they kicked off their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Udinese.
Italiano will be without Nicolo Cambiaghi after the forward suffered a knee injury in his first game after signing from Atalanta, and Bologna lost two of their most important players from last season during the transfer window.
Defender Riccardo Calafiori and forward Joshua Zirkzee both left for the Premier League and Italiano faces a tough task to repeat last season's heroics under Motta, but Bologna will fancy their chances in Naples against a side already in trouble.
Conte should have Alessandro Buongiorno back, after the defender missed the first game, but Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is a doubt after he went off injured in that game.
Last season Napoli began with two wins before it all went horribly wrong, and they cannot afford to lose ground this early into a campaign which had promised much better.
Inter Milan began their title defence in subdued style, held to a 2-2 draw at Genoa, in a stark contrast to last season where they won their five opening games. They host Lecce on Saturday, who lost 4-0 to Atalanta on Monday.
AC Milan also began with a 2-2 draw, at home to Torino, and they travel to Parma on Saturday to face the promoted side who held Fiorentina to a 1-1 draw last weekend.
Motta had a bright start at Juventus with a 3-0 win over Como and they go to Verona on Monday, hoping to avoid a repeat of Napoli's result there.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; editing by Clare Fallon)
