Just like the meetings between Leonardo and Mazzarri, tonight will be the fifth competitive match, with the Brazilian coming out undefeated, with a tally of 1 victory and 3 draws. Leonardo never lost to Napoli as a player either, winning once and drawing twice.

There have been 15 previous meetings between Mazzarri and Inter with the current Napoli coach winning only one of these: in Coppa Italia when Sampdoria beat Inter 3-0 on 4 March 2009. The Nerazzurri have won 7 times and there have been 7 draws.

This is the fifth competitive match between the coaches of the two teams and Mazzarri has never won: three draws and one victory by 3-1 for Leonardo on 6 January 2011 which was also his official debut on the Inter bench, after he took over from Benitez during the Christmas holidays.

Inter are one of the four goal cooperatives in Serie A 2010/11 along with Bari, Catania and Genoa, with 15 of their players getting on the scoresheet. The 15 Nerazzurri goalscorers are: Cambiasso, Chivu, Coutinho, Eto’o, Kharja, Lucio, Maicon, Milito, Muntari, Nagatomo, Pandev, Pazzini, Sneijder, Stankovic and Thiago Motta.

The last goal to be scored by Inter at Napoli dates back to 18 October 1997, when the Nerazzurri won 0-2. Inter's second was actually an own-goal by Turrini on 69 minutes. Following that, the remaining 21 minutes of that match were goalless. Inter didn't score and went on to lose all of the league matches 1-0 in the 2000/01, 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons as well as a 0-0 draw in 2009/10. Add to this another 0-0 after extra time in the Coppa Italia 2010/11 and you come up with a total of 501 minutes since Inter last scored at the Stadio San Paolo.

Napoli and Inter are the two Serie A 2010/11 teams who have picked up more points in the second half compared with the first-half scoreline: +25 points for the Nerazzurri, who are on top of this table and +18 for the Neapolitans who are second.

Napoli is one of the three teams in this season's Serie A, along with Brescia and Chievo Verona, to have picked up most yellow cards: 89 out of 36 matches. Inter is the Serie A 2010/11 team to have been shown the fewest yellow cards, with 56 to date.

Napoli are already certain of taking part in next season's Champions League - the third time in their history they have qualified for Europe's most important club competition (European Cup/Champions League) - but it remains to be seen whether they will access the group stage directly (if they finish 2nd or 3rd) or go into the August play-offs (4th). Their previous outings in the European Cup came in 1987/88 and 1990/91, after the club's two Scudetto successes.

Napoli have won 21 of their 36 games played so far in Serie A 2010/11, which means they have equalled their record for most wins in a top-flight season since the unified national league began. The Neapolitans previously achieved 21 wins in 1989/90 - the year of their second Scudetto - but that could still be beaten this year.

Napoli have lost just one of their last 18 competitive matches played at the Stadio San Paolo: on 17 April Udinese left Naples with all 3 points after a 1-2 win. In the other 17 games in that period there have been 13 wins and 4 draws (all 0-0).

NAPLES – Inter's Serie A 2010/11 Week 37 fixture against Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo ended in a 1-1 draw.

Mazzarri's team was looking for a point to reach the Champions League without going through the preliminaries, but Inter were the first to score with a beautiful right-footed shot from distance by Eto'o that beat De Sanctis to open the scoring on the 15-minute mark. Milito and Maicon came close to doubling the lead towards the end of the first half, but a deflection from Aronica and the post denied a goal to the two Nerazzurri players. Zuniga found the equaliser (but doubts remain about Maggio's position during the build-up), taking advantage of a mix-up in the box to beat Julio Cesar with his left in first-half stoppage time.

FIRST HALF - With Lucio, Sneijder and Stankovic unavailable, Leonardo chose Materazzi in central defence alongside Ranocchia, while Kharja formed the midfield line together with Zanetti and Cambiasso. Thiago Motta played as an attacking midfielder just behind the strike force of Milito, preferred to Pazzini, and Eto'o. For Napoli, Cavani was suspended; Lavezzi played as the lone striker in front of Zuniga and Hamsik, who after 2 minutes sped in front of Thiago Motta to force a save from Julio Cesar, well-positioned centrally. Eto'o responded in the 9th minute with a right-footer from distance, after a backheel from Kharja, which flew just over the crossbar. Not happy with his first try, the Inter striker decided to have a go again in the 15th minute, and this time he made no mistake: off an assist from Milito, he controlled with his chest and blasted the ball with the laces of his right foot inside the post, leaving De Sanctis nothing but a helpless spectator. With this stunner, Eto'o put the Nerazzurri in the lead and notched his 35th goal of the season. Seven minutes later, however, it was Milito at the centre of the action that nearly doubled the lead for Inter when he passed to Kharja in the heart of the box, but the Moroccan failed to control the ball in front of the goal. In the 29th minute Lavezzi tried to surprise Julio Cesar with a crisp shot. The Brazilian 'keeper blocked it with his body and then seconds later kept out an effort from Campagnaro. The Inter 'keeper then went low to save Zuniga's effort (32), but Napoli's siege was showing no mercy, as Hamsik nearly broke through (36) as well. Milito came close to adding Inter's second in the 43rd minute with a diagonal shot deflected out by a determined Aronica. Immediately following a corner by Inter, Maicon hit the post with a curling shot from outside the box. Napoli's equaliser then arrived in injury time (46) through Zuniga who, taking advantage of some defensive imprecision and confusion in Inter's box, fired home amid the pinball-like play to bring the score level at 1-1. However, there were some doubts concerning Maggio's position when he entered the pitch from beyond the goal line to recover the ball after a touch from Zanetti that could have been involuntary. Both teams then entered the dressing room after 2 minutes of injury time.

SECOND HALF – There were fireworks at the start of the second half when De Sanctis made an outstanding save on a diagonal shot from Milito, pushing it onto the crossbar (48). Lavezzi immediately responded at the other end with a central shot that Julio Cesar dropped low to block (50). Zuniga threatened in the 56th minute after a long pass from Aronica to Lavezzi and a touch from Maggio, but his effort finished wide to the left of Julio Cesar. In the 60th minute Pazzini came on for Eto'o, and Mariga then replaced Cambiasso fifteen minutes later. But in the 77th minute came the long-awaited moment of Walter Samuel, who had been absent since 6 November (Inter v Brescia), stepping onto the pitch. After 2 minutes of injury time, Napoli v Inter ended at 1-1. Inter now sit at 73 points in the standings and Napoli finish in third place, mathematically qualified for the Champions League.

Napoli 1-1 Inter (HT: 1-1)
Scorers: Eto'o 15, Zuniga 45+1.

Napoli: 26 De Sanctis; 14 Campagnaro, 28 Cannavaro, 6 Aronica; 11 Maggio, 23 Gargano, 5 Pazienza, 8 Dossena (3 Vitale, 83); 18 Zuniga (21 Yebda, 70), 17 Hamsik (77 Sosa, 78); 22 Lavezzi.
Unused subs: 1 Iezzo, 4 Ruiz, 13 Santacroce, 99 Lucarelli.
Coach: Walter Mazzarri.

Inter: 1 Julio Cesar; 13 Maicon, 15 Ranocchia (25 Samuel, 77), 23 Materazzi, 55 Nagatomo; 4 Zanetti, 19 Cambiasso (17 Mariga, 75), 14 Kharja; 28 Thiago Motta; 22 Milito, 9 Eto'o (7 Pazzini, 60).
Unused subs: 12 Castellazzi, 26 Chivu, 27 Pandev, 29 Coutinho.
Coach: Leonardo.

Referee: Andrea De Marco (Chiavari).
Booked: Zuniga 45+1.
Added time: 2+2 minutes.

starting lineups

substitutes