After coaching several smaller Italian sides, Mazzarri took up a managerial position with Sampdoria in 2007; with the help of the attacking partnership of Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini, he led the team to qualify for the UEFA Cup in his first season, and subsequently reached the Coppa Italia final the next year. In 2009, he joined Napoli, where he implemented a 3–4–3 formation with which he later became associated. With the attacking trio of Ezequiel Lavezzi, Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamšík, he helped the team qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the club's history in 2011, and won the Coppa Italia the following season, the club's first trophy in over 20 years. In his final season with the team, he managed a second-place finish in Serie A, the club's best league finish in over 20 years.