Tonight’s early results had knocked Copenhagen out of the top 24, and Rasmus Hojlund - born in the Danish capital itself - could have deepened their misery just 10 minutes in, as he cut inside and sent a shot from the edge of the area fizzing just over the bar.
Clinging onto the final knockout place at kick-off, Napoli continued showing desperation to keep their progression in their own hands, as Antonio Vergara found a pocket of space and sent a low effort inches wide, before Giovanni Di Lorenzo failed to beat Dominik Kotarski with a shot from a tight angle.
Having spent over half an hour on the back foot, things got more difficult for the home side when a poor challenge on Stanislav Lobotka from Thomas Delaney saw the Copenhagen captain shown a straight red card following a VAR review.
And it took all of four minutes for Napoli to make their man advantage count, as Scott McTominay climbed highest to head home Eljif Elmas’ corner for his fourth goal of the League Phase and give his side a deserved half-time lead.
The Partenopei were halfway to extending their perfect record against Danish opposition, and thought they had extended their lead to two goals when Vergara again found a pocket of space, but this time his strike was clutched by Kotarski.
Despite being outnumbered, Jacob Neestrup’s side weren’t planning on going down without a fight, and caused a real scare on the hour mark, when Mads Emil Madsen turned a corner goalwards with a cushioned volley, forcing Vanja Milinkovic-Savic into a vital save.
Having fired a warning shot, the home side drew level 10 minutes later, when Mohamed Elyounoussi was upended inside the area by Alessandro Buongiorno, and referee Irfan Peljto pointed to the penalty spot.
Jordan Larsson stepped up and had his effort saved by Milinkovic-Savic, only to slot home the rebound.
In the final 10 minutes, Junnosuke Suzuki and McTominay exchanged headers at either end that were comfortably saved, before Kotarski had to display real athleticism to tip Mathías Olivera’s headed chance over the bar.
The final real chance of the night fell to Lorenzo Lucca, who blazed over from close range in the last minute, leaving the duo in the final two qualification places for now.
However, the Danish champions will likely need something from a trip to Barcelona on matchday eight, as will Antonio Conte’s side when they welcome his former club, Chelsea, to Naples in eight days.