On Tuesday night, AC Milan currently placed 4th in Serie A will make the trip down South to face runaway league leaders Napoli in the second leg of their Champions League quarter final tie.
In the first leg, the Rossoneri won 1-0 through a powerful left footed strike from midfielder Ismaël Bennacer after a sublime turn from the agile Brahim Diaz, a former Real Madrid and Manchester City player.
The seven times Champions League winners will have to ferociously defend their narrow advantage in Naples if they are to progress to the semi-finals, which would be their first since they won it in 2007, beating Liverpool 2-1 that year in Athens.
Napoli currently sit in pole position in Serie A with 75 points, 14 more than 2nd placed Lazio.
However, the Milan side have got the better of Napoli in their two most recent meetings with a 4-0 thrashing in early April in the league, with superb goals on that day being provided by Portuguese international Rafael Leão, Diaz and Alexis Saelemaekers.
This was followed up ten days later by the Rossoneri taking the leader in the quarter final first leg at an intimidating San Siro. In fact, over the last two games against Milan, the Neapolitans have had 36 shots against the Rossoneri but have failed to score once.
This may have unsurprisingly caused some concern for Luciano Spalletti, who has seen his side score just two goals in their last four matches. At the weekend, the 64-year old manager watched on as his side failed to break down 18th placed Hellas Verona, with a 0-0 scoreline the final result.
In addition, AC Milan have not lost in their last three matches in Naples at the supposedly impregnable Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
However with the attacking creativity and flair of players like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Hirving Lozano, Matteo Politano, Victor Osimhen, and even Tanguy Ndombele off the bench, Spalletti will be hoping his side, who have been so prolific in front of goal all season, will get back to goalscoring form, in order to fire Napoli through to what would be their first ever Champions League semi final.
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Team News
Spalletti’s main concern ahead of Tuesday night’s clash came about as a result of suspension. In the first leg, the former Fulham midfielder André-Frank Zambo Anguissa was controversially sent off, meaning he will sit out the return leg.
The Cameroon international has been a constant feature in Napoli’s midfield three all season with 28 appearances in the league and eight in the Champions League. Elif Elmas will likely come into replace Anguissa, but Spalletti may utilise Tanguy Ndombele, a loanee from Tottenham Hotspur who has largely been confined to substitute appearances this season.
An even bigger miss for Spalletti and the Napoli backline is the formidable South Korean defensive rock, Kim Min Jae. Jae was suspended after picking up a yellow card in the first leg. Napoli have the 2nd best defence in Serie A, conceding just 21 goals all season and Jae has been vital in this.
The South Korean star, who has taken quickly to life in southern Italy after being signed to replace Kalidou Koulibaly, has started 29 of Napoli’s 30 league games and started all nine in the Champions league. He will be a huge miss for Spalletti, who will now have a defensive headache as he looks to his bench to fill the void.
In addition to the suspensions of Jae and Zambo Anguissa, Giovanni Simeone will likely miss out due to a thigh injury. The striker, who is the son of Diego Simeone, scored a superb winner earlier on in the season at the San Siro to beat AC Milan, in Napoli’s only victory this season against the Rossoneri.
However, on a more positive note Spalletti and the fans in Naples will be overjoyed that their main goalscorer Victor Osimhen has returned, making an appearance off the bench against Hellas Verona on Sunday after a muscle injury had kept him out of action since the 19th of March.
For the Rossoneri, there are largely no fresh injury concerns for Stefano Pioli to deal with. Pierre Kalulu is the only potential absentee with a recurring calf injury, the French centre-back has played 28 games in the Serie A this season with eight appearances in the Champions League as well.
Pioli will be expected to choose Denmark captain Simon Kjær to play alongside England international Fikayo Tomori at the heart of Milan’s defence, after he started the first leg.
Pioli made ten changes for the weekend trip to Bologna, but will be expected to return to the same line up that won the first leg.
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Likely lineups
Napoli:
Meret, Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Jesus, Mário Rui; Zelenski, Lobotka, Elmas; Lozano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia.
AC Milan:
Maignan, Calabria, Kjær, Tomori, Hernández; Krunic, Tonali, Bennacer; Diaz, Leão, Giroud.
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Key players
Napoli:
The star man for Napoli this season has arguably been Victor Osimhen. The Nigerian striker is Napoli’s record signing and, according to L’Equipe, was signed in a deal worth £81.3 million euros, making him the most expensive African player of all time.
Osimhen has not let the large price tag affect him however, helping Napoli to go 14 points clear on their way to their first league title since 1990 with 21 goals and four assists as well as four goals in five appearances in the Champions League.
His return to the side, if all goes well, will be a huge addition to Napoli’s attacking threat with his fast energetic running in behind providing a constant threat for AC Milan’s backline.
AC Milan:
The key player for the Rossoneri is Portuguese sensation Rafael Leão. The wideman, who can also play up top, is a frenetic dribbler as well as a consistent goal source for Milan.
Leão, who often plays on the left side of the Milan attack, has ten goals and six assists in Serie A this season, but just one in the Champions League.
The Portuguese man netted twice against Napoli earlier on in the month in their 4-0 rout on Napoli’s home turf, as well as playing a role in the phase of play in the first leg of this tie that resulted in the Bennacer goal giving AC Milan a crucial advantage.
Only Vinicius Junior has completed more successful take ons and dribbles than Rafael Leão this season in the Champions League, and he will have to be at his best if AC Milan are to score away from home in Naples.
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Match Details
Where is the game being played?
It will be played in the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, which has a capacity of 54,726 and will be a sell out for the clash.
What time is kick-off?
Tuesday night’s game kicks off at 20:00 BST in Naples.
How can I watch?
In the UK, it will be available to watch on BT Sport.
#UCL prep mode 🔛#NapoliMilan #SempreMilan
— AC Milan (@acmilan) April 16, 2023
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