Juventus crash to first Serie A defeat, Napoli suffer Ospina scare
Colombian international Ospina had collided with Udinese striker Ignacio Pussetto minutes into the game in Naples, before losing consciousness just before half-time.
The 30-year-old on loan Arsenal goalkeeper later regained consciousness in hospital.
“Fortunately it’s nothing serious, he’s conscious, they did a CAT scan that is negative, he’ll remain under observation tonight,” said coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Juventus’s Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo was rested after his hat-trick had fired Juventus into the European quarter-finals with a comeback victory over Atletico Madrid.
Coach Massimiliano Allegri conceded that the win in Turin had taken its toll even if his side still remain comfortably on track for an eighth consecutive league title.
“It’s not a tragedy, but I’m sorry because we wanted to remain unbeaten,” said Allegri.
“The Champions League match certainly weighed heavy,” he said. “You can’t play all the games at your maximum.
“A defeat could have happened (at any time) and it is better that it happened today, now we will have time to rest, recover our energy and the injured players.”
Juventus had won 24 of their 27 previous matches in Serie A this season with three draws, including a 1-1 stalemate against Genoa in the reverse fixture in Turin.
It was the first league defeat on Allegri’s side since April 2018 against Napoli, and first away since losing at Sampdoria in November 2017.
– ‘Time to unplug’ –
The Italian champions had already been beaten this season by Atalanta in the Coppa Italia and lost in the Champions League to Young Boys in the group stage and Atletico Madrid in the last-16 first leg.
“The defeat could do us good, because maybe we thought we already had the league in our pockets and instead we still have to get five victories,” continued Allegri.
“Much like the Coppa Italia defeat to Atalanta, we picked the right game to lose, because it’s just before the break for international duty, so we have time to unplug and rest.”
In addition to Ronaldo, Allegri rested key players including defender Giorgio Chiellini and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny with former Genoa goalkeeper Mattia Perin taking his place between the posts.