In fact, Napoli fell so deep that this result would be difficult to repeat even if Xabi left. If I remember correctly, Napoli became the worst champion to defend their title among the top leagues in history. 10th place after the title is an incredible drop.
As for the Europa League, it has finally turned into an independent tournament and not a septic tank for loser clubs from the Champions League.
Last season Napoli was also quite a surprising team in the league and even their won the scudetto last season in Serie A, but the change and dismissal of the coach was the beginning of Napoli collapse this season, while Leverkusen managed to keep Alonso as their coach, so I think we can't help but expect Leverkusen to end up like Napoli later, it is very natural to see many doubting that the surprise team will be able to maintain their great performance for more than two seasons, but if you look at the current squad management carried out by Leverkusen, of course they may still be able to continue their positive trend next season.
So far the Leverkusen squad is mostly filled by academy players, so indeed they are projected as a long-term project to compete in the Bundesliga and Europe, currently of course what Leverkusen needs is consistency and mentality, apart from being able to maintain and also add some new players to their squad next season
In any case, both Napoli and Bayer now have nothing to do with the Europa League, since Napoli next season will not play in European competitions at all, and Bayer will play in the Champions League.
I am very glad that the Europa League has become an independent tournament where the composition of the participants will be known in advance and there will be no “additions” from the Champions League. Do you think this will increase the status of the tournament or will the status, on the contrary, decrease due to the increase in the number of teams in the Champions League and Europa League?