UCL | FC Porto 4-1 Napoli: Error prone Partenopei collapse in Porto

Napoli had got back on track with Scott McTominay, but crumbled in a 4-1 defeat to Francesco Farioli’s Porto with some terrible defending on set plays and late Rafa Marin red card.

The Partenopei finally secured their first Champions League points beating Bodo/Glimt 4-3, but were fresh off a 2-0 Serie A loss at Juventus over the weekend.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Mathias Olivera, Stanislav Lobotka, Leonardo Spinazzola, Alisson Santos, Benoit Badiashile, Costantino Favasuli, David Neres and Alessandro Buongiorno were injured, while Luca Marianucci was not on the UEFA list. Rasmus Hojlund returned after missing the Juve trip with flu symptoms and Kevin De Bruyne shook off an ankle knock to play a more advanced role in this 3-5-2 formation.

FC Porto were top of the table domestically with a perfect record under Italian coach Francesco Farioli, yet lost all three European games this season to Manchester City, Real Betis and PSV Eindhoven. Vasco Sousa, William Gomes and former Roma defender Chris Smalling are out injured, while Oskar Pietuszewski needed a late fitness test after missing the last three matches. Ex-Milan strikers Andre Silva and Santiago Gimenez were in the squad.

Antonio Vergara returned to the starting XI after a long lay-off and was perhaps too eager, booked in the opening minute for crashing into Jan Bednarek.

Pepê had the ball in the net at the fourth minute, but was offside on the long ball over the top when smashing in off the underside of the woodwork.

Borja Sainz also skimmed the crossbar with a curler, so it was no surprise when Porto took the lead as Gabriel Veiga pumped in a corner for the totally free Bednarek header from nine yards. It was more sluggish defending from Napoli.

Hojlund had penalty appeals when going down between two as he ran onto the De Bruyne through ball, then the striker started a run from his own half, shrugging off two fouls for a finish deflected inches wide of the far post.

Gabriel Veiga’s free kick hit the side-netting after a very risky Scott McTominay foul on the edge of the area, while De Bruyne had the ball in the net on 38 minutes after wandering offside on the roll across from the right.

Napoli did get their equaliser following a mad scramble, as Diogo Costa made two big reaction saves on the Matteo Politano strike from distance, then the Hojlund follow-ups, but the third from McTominay was too much to deal with.

Porto had a big chance to restore their lead when a roll across ricocheted off Politano and turned into an accidental assist for Pablo Rosario, but Alex Meret managed to smother from point-blank range.

There was also nearly a repeat of the opening goal, as once again Bednarek was allowed a free header on a corner kick, but this time it bounced off the top of the crossbar.

Gabriel Veiga also thumped the crossbar with a shot from the edge of the area, and Santiago Gimenez scuffed a finish from a promising situation into the arms of Meret.

The pressure eventually paid off and Gimenez picked the right pass to release Gabriel Veiga, who beat the on-rushing Meret one-on-one.

It should’ve been 3-1 soon after, but Samu failed to get enough power when going clear on the counter-attack, but the third did arrive from yet another totally free header on a corner, this time from former Spezia and Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior.

It went from bad to worse, as Samu was brought down with no attempt to play the ball for an inevitable Rafa Marin red card and penalty converted by Samu.

Porto 4-1 Napoli

Bednarek 11 (P), McTominay 43 (N), Gabriel Veiga 71 (P), Kiwior 80 (P), Samu pen 90 (P)

Sent off: Rafa Marin 89 (N)

04-11-2026 20:00

MatchDay 4

Player statistic

1st half

2nd half

Match statistic

52 Possession % 48

19 Total shots 11

8 Shots on target 6

8 Shots off target 4

3 Blocked shots 1

5 Corners 5

4 Offsides 3

8 Fouls 11

Porto

Napoli

Starting lineups

99 Diogo Costa Goalkeeper

20 Alberto Costa Defender

4 Jakub Kiwior Defender

5 Jan Bednarek Defender

52 Martim Fernandes Defender 67'

10 Gabri Veiga Midfielder 78'

13 Pablo Rosario Midfielder

8 Victor Froholdt Midfielder

19 André Silva Attacker 56'

17 Borja Sainz Attacker 67'

11 Pepê Attacker 78'

1 Alex Meret Goalkeeper

13 Amir Rrahmani Defender

16 Rafa Marín Defender

31 Sam Beukema Defender

99 Frank Anguissa Midfielder 78'

26 Antonio Vergara Midfielder 78'

6 Billy Gilmour Midfielder

11 Kevin De Bruyne Midfielder

8 Scott McTominay Midfielder

21 Matteo Politano Attacker 82'

19 Rasmus Højlund Attacker

Substitutes

18 Nehuén Pérez Defender

74 Francisco Sampaio Moura Defender

14 Cláudio Ramos Goalkeeper

24 João Costa Goalkeeper

33 Gabriel Veron Attacker

22 Alan Varela Midfielder

77 Oskar Pietuszewski Attacker

9 Samu Aghehowa Attacker 56'

12 Zaidu Sanusi Defender 67'

Santiago Giménez Attacker 67'

42 Seko Fofana Midfielder 78'

16 In-beom Hwang Midfielder 78'

14 Nikita Contini Goalkeeper

32 Vanja Milinković-Savić Goalkeeper

38 Andrea Chiummariello Midfielder

40 Claudio Lieto Defender

70 Noa Lang Attacker 78'

23 Giovane Attacker 78'

20 Lorenzo Lucca Attacker 82'