NAPOLI v AC MILAN: MATCH PREVIEW
Champions League
All eyes on Naples and the Stadio Maradona. It’s here where the Champions League quarter-final showdown will be decided. The Rossoneri versus the Azzurri and a narrow 1-0 advantage for Pioli's men from the first leg. The best version of AC Milan is required, the one which showed up in the two most recent encounters between the sides, first at the Maradona in Serie A and then at San Siro in the Champions League. The Rossoneri faithful - especially the 2500 fans who will be in the away sector - will no doubt spur the team on as Coach Pioli's men look to accomplish an important feat. This is our Match Preview.
LATEST FROM MILANELLO
In the 1-1 draw in Bologna, Coach Pioli made ten changes to the side that had lined up against Napoli in Europe's elite competition. It's likely that the same winning team at San Siro will play at the Maradona this evening. Olivier Giroud, who picked up a knock against the Partenopei and remained on the bench at the Dall'Ara, has recovered and will be available. The same applies to Simon Kjær, who sat out the away fixture in the league as a precaution, but is ready to regain his centre-back place. While Coach Pioli will probably stick with the same side that won last week, the match in Bologna gave an insight into the form of those ready to come on during the game. Pobega, Saelemaekers, Messias all performed well, as did Ballo-Touré, Thiaw and several other players. To sum up, everyone is ready for one of the most important matches of the season. No one is suspended for tonight's showdown, although five players are one booking away from suspension: Ballo-Touré, Calabria, Krunić, Tomori and Tonali.
"We know where we've come from, and now we're playing for a place in the Champions League semi-finals," said Coach Pioli on the eve of the game. "We have a very small advantage but need to finish the job by playing at a really high level. We'll need to manage possession well, and the team that do better with their chances will win. Napoli started better than us at San Siro, and this should serve as a lesson for us. Our last two matches against Napoli were games that we had to read. We'll have to be able to dictate the pace of the game and understand when we need to slow down or accelerate. In general, we'll need to read the moments of the match well."
LATEST FROM NAPOLI
Just like the Rossoneri, Napoli picked up a point in their last league fixture against Hellas Verona, also resting several of those who started at San Siro. Indeed, Mario Rui, Rrahmani, Lobotka, Zieliński and Kvaratshkelia weren't in the starting line-up against the Gialloblù, although the last three did come on during the match. Victor Osimhen also made a substitute appearance, with the Nigerian making his return to action after injury and now in contention to start against AC Milan. Spalletti will have to do without the suspended Kim Min-jae and Zambo Anguissa, who will probably be replaced by Juan Jesus and either Tanguy Ndombele or Elmas. Three Azzurri players are on the verge of suspension: Juan Jesus, Politano and Rrahmani.
"The fact we've played each other twice in such a short amount of time allows you to go into more details," said Luciano Spalletti in his pre-match press conference. "They have all the required qualities to go from back to front, whether this involves going long or managing the pace with their build-up play. They play modern, attacking football and have a great coach in Pioli, who deservedly led them to the Scudetto last season. AC Milan can change ten players and still put in a great performance. They have different qualities on the counter which set them apart from other teams."
WHERE TO WATCH AC MILAN ON TV
In Italy, Napoli v AC Milan will be shown on Mediaset (Canale 5) and Sky Sport at 21:00 CEST. Starting at 19:30 CEST, until kick-off, there's all the build-up on Milan TV's Matchday. After the game, we will have interviews and Stefano Pioli's post-match conference.
LATEST FROM CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Four matches across two days that will decide the four semi-finalists of the 2022/23 Champions League. The first two games will take place at 21:00 CEST this evening: Napoli v AC Milan and Chelsea v Real Madrid (0-2 in the first leg). The other two fixtures will be played tomorrow, once again at 21:00 CEST: Inter v Benfica (2-0 in the first leg) and Bayern Munich v Manchester City (0-3 in the first leg).
Polish official Szymon Marciniak, who refereed the World Cup final between Argentina and France, will be the man in the middle this evening. He's previously taken charge of two games involving AC Milan: the 3-2 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield last season (15 September 2021) and the 4-0 victory away to Dinamo Zagreb earlier on this campaign (25 October 2022). On the three occasions he's been the referee for a Napoli match, the Partenopei have won once and drawn twice.
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