These two coaches have faced each other 9 times before today and Ranieri has yet to win: Mazzarri has beaten him in their last 3 head-to-heads, and before then there were 6 draws.

Walter Mazzarri has faced Inter 17 times as a coach, with 2 wins, 8 draws and 7 defeats.

Claudio Ranieri is taking on Napoli - whom he coached from July 1991 to November 1992 - for the 19th time. He has won 9, drawn 4 and lost 5 (including the last 3) of his previous encounters with the Neapolitan outfit.

These two sides have met 8 times in the Italian Cup and Napoli are yet to record a win: there have been 4 draws (all 3 of the last 3) and 4 Nerazzurri wins. Considering only the games played on Napoli's turf, there have been 3 draws (which all went to extra time) and 1 victory for Inter.

The last home defeat by Napoli in the Coppa Italia was on 8 December 2005 when Roma beat them 0-3. In the 14 home games played in the competition since then, the Neapolitans have racked up 10 wins and 4 draws.

Napoli have failed to hit the net only once in their last 16 competitive fixtures in all competitions: on 19 November, their Serie A match against Lazio at the San Paolo ended 0-0. In the other 15 games in that period the Azzurri have notched up 32 goals.

Inter's last defeat in the Coppa Italia came on 4 March 2009, when they lost 3-0 at Sampdoria. In the 12 cup games since then, the Nerazzurri have won 10 games and drawn 2.

Inter have scored at least once in each of their last 15 competitive away fixtures, netting 22 goals in the process. The last time the Nerazzurri failed to score on their travels was on 16 April, when they lost 2-0 at Parma (Serie A).

The last goal conceded away from home by Inter in the Coppa Italia was on 4 March 2009 in a 3-0 defeat to Sampdoria. Pazzini scored Samp's third in the 42nd minute. Since then, in the remaining 48 minutes of that match plus the games played at Fiorentina (0-1 in 2009/10) , Napoli (0-0 after extra time in 2010/12) and Roma (0-1 in 2010/11), the Inter defence has repelled everything thrown at it for 231 minutes. The last goal conceded by Inter on their travels in any competition was on 22 November when they drew 1-1 at Trabzonspor in the Champions League: Altintop hit the target for the Turks in the 23th minute. Since then, in the remaining 67 minutes of that match plus the Serie A games won away at Siena, Genoa, Cesena and AC Milan (all 0-1), the Nerazzurri defence has been unbreached for 427 minutes.

NAPLES – A penalty from Cavani took Napoli to the semi-finals, and a penalty denied to Milito eliminated Inter from the Coppa Italia. A year later, again in the quarter-finals of the Cup, the story from the penalty spot did not repeat itself, as the referee Celi rightly whistled Motta's foul (on Cavani) for a complaining Mazzarri, while Ranieri watched Maggio's push – as the last man – on Milito go unpunished, despite the fact that it was clear in both live action as well as on TV replays. And so it went. Inter's feisty second half, with the team a goal down, was not enough. In fact, insult was added to injury when Cavani netted his second in stoppage time.

FIRST HALF - On 15 minutes Castellazzi managed a miracle when pushing a shot from Maggio out for a corner. Sneijder then responded from the edge of the box but his shot finished too centrally to cause problems. In the 19th minute a dubious foul by Samuel on Lavezzi brought a free kick from Gargano, and the Uruguayan's attempt from 20 yards nicked the post. Inter were closing down well but struggling to counter, while Mazzarri's side tried to break through on the flanks and through the speedy Lavezzi's darting runs. This is how the opening minutes of the half can be summed up; very tactical. Chinks were being sought in the armour, and in the 23rd minute Samuel's header (on a corner) forced a save from De Sanctis. It was a first half that was anything but fluid, with Napoli manoeuvring more and Inter looking to hit deep on the counter. The action was broken up and both teams were anchored down without wanting to unbalance themselves and give up space to their opponent. Then, five minutes before the halftime whistle, Mazzarri's boys gave the Nerazzurri a fright when Aronica's right-footer finished in Castellazzi's arms.

SECOND HALF - It began with Alvarez on for Obi in a 4-3-2-1. Inter immediately threatened on a corner but Napoli made the most of the first controversial moment. On the edge of the box, Motta failed to control the ball and gave away a penalty when fouling Cavani in his attempt to win it back. El Matador dispatched from the spot to make it 1-0. It was proof that only an individual error, going one way or the other, could upset the balance in the San Paolo. Now in the lead, Mazzarri's team could play the game that they preferred; that of the counterattack. The referee Celi gave them a hand in the 58th minute when he denied Inter a penalty; Maggio's arm clearly held Milito as he was sent in on goal. Two minutes later De Sanctis punched away a free kick from Sneijder. Then another attempt from the Dutchman grazed the post from the edge of the box.

Denied a clear penalty and with their pride stung, Ranieri's team then set up camp in Napoli's midfield. There was an excellent chance for Alvarez when he found himself alone in front of De Sanctis, but instead of equalising the Argentine could only weakly kick the ball into the keeper's arms. In the 72nd minute Gargano won the ball and gave it to Cavani who then fed Pandev, only to see the Napoli substitute – and ex-Interista – shoot high. At the other end of the pitch De Sanctis went low to block a right-footer from Milito. On came Zarate (for Thiago Motta) and Inter went to a 4-2-3-1. Castellazzi saved from Cavani, and only a few seconds later a lively Sneijder blasted his long-distance shot just centimetres off target. On 87 minutes De Sanctis pulled off a triple save from Zarate and Cambiasso (twice). Mazzarri only had defending on his mind, while the Nerazzurri looked to exploit every possible moment to find the net and stay in the competition. However, Cavani struck again on a counterattack in the 93rd minute to kill off the match.

Napoli 2-0 Inter (HT: 0-0)
Scorers: Cavani 50 (pen), 90+3.

Napoli: 1 De Sanctis; 14 Campagnaro, 28 Cannavaro, 6 Aronica; 11 Maggio, 23 Gargano, 88 Inler (Dzemaili 82), 18 Zuniga; 17 Hamsik (Dossena 87), 22 Lavezzi (Pandev 65); 7 Cavani.
Unused subs: 83 Rosati, 16 Vargas, 21 Fernandez, 85 Britos.
Coach: Walter Mazzarri.

Inter: 12 Castellazzi; 13 Maicon, 23 Ranocchia, 25 Samuel, 26 Chivu; 4 Zanetti, 8 Thiago Motta (Zarate 76), 19 Cambiasso, 20 Obi (Alvarez 46); 10 Sneijder, 22 Milito.
Unused subs: 1 Julio Cesar, 2 Cordoba, 37 Faraoni, 18 Poli, 30 Castaignos.
Coach: Claudio Ranieri.

Referee: Domenico Celi (Bari).
Booked: Chivu 24, Sneijder 39, Milito 57, Maggio 59, Gargano 86.
Added time: 1+3 minutes.

starting lineups

substitutes