Napoli and AC Milan meet in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. Napoli’s Victor Osimhene, the leading scorer in Serie A by far, returns to the green after recovering from a leg injury.
Napoli, who are leading the Italian Serie A by far, are in a tough spot on Tuesday night when they face AC Milan at home in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final.
The Milanese have been a difficult opponent for Napoli in April. First, Napoli suffered a 0-4 loss to the red and black in Serie A at the beginning of the month. Last week, Milan was better in the opening of the pair of Champions League matches 1-0, when Ismael Bennacer was the only one to score.
Some of the Neapolitans decided the night before Tuesday to try to help their team with questionable means. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (you will switch to another service) a couple of hundred locals gathered in front of AC Milan’s hotel to sing and make noise until three in the morning in order to disturb the opponents’ sleep. The crowd also set off fireworks, waved torches and threw smoke bombs.
According to the magazine, they got at least some of the jeering songs Rafael Leao, Olivier Giroud, Theo Hernandez and my companions Paolo Maldini.
The Milanese players stayed in soundproof rooms at the back of the hotel, because the club knew how to expect disturbances.
Milanese media According to Milannews (you will switch to another service) bedwetting was pointless.
– As William Shakespeare would have said: much ado about nothing. The efforts of the Neapolitan supporters were completely wasted. Davide Calabria slept like a log with his companions.
Spalletti does not take pressure
AC Milan has won the Champions League or its predecessor, the European Cup, seven times. The previous championship is from 2007. Napoli, the comet of the season, is in the UCL quarterfinals for the first time. Head coach of Napoli Luciano Spalletti according to which the team can start the match without pressure.
– We believe that we can do even more. There are no risks in Tuesday’s match. None. The only risk is to achieve endless joy, because we have already come this far and we can go even further, Spalletti said, according to Reuters.
Napoli is getting stronger from the previous week’s defeat, as they are by far the leader of the Serie A goal market Victor Osimhen is back in the lineup after a leg injury. The Nigerian striker has been one of the best strikers in the European leagues this season, finishing with 25 goals in 29 matches including all competitions.
– Osimhen is physical and fast. You can throw the ball to him and he can protect it, use his head or change the rhythm. He brings a lot more options, Spalletti said according to AP (you will switch to another service).
AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli said that Osimhen’s return has been taken into account.
– We always respect our opponents. Especially when they have a striker like that. He is a powerful, strong, impressive and decisive leader. Of course, we have taken his characteristics into account. At the same time, we have our own way of playing, which we will not give up.
In the second match on Tuesday, Chelsea and Real Madrid will meet. Madrid leads the match series 2–0 Karim Benzema and Marco Asencion with hits.
On Wednesday, Bayern Munich and Manchester City (situation 3–0 for City) and Inter and Benfica (situation 2–0 for Inter) will decide the places in the semi-finals.