April 15, 2023, 20:15 PM
April 15, 2023, 20:15 PM
Napoli did not go beyond a goalless draw this Saturday against Hellas Verona (18th), but remains very prominent at the top of the Serie A standings, with a 14-point lead over Lazio, with eight rounds to go.
Given the great difference in points in the standings and the Champions League duel on Tuesday against Milan (where Napoli must come back from 1-0 to reach the semifinals), the coach Luciano Spalletti decided to start with an eleven with many noveltiesespecially in attack, leaving Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the bench.
But without their two best men this season, It was difficult for Napoli to play at their usual level and in the first half they barely got close to the rival goal, with a goal disallowed for offside as the most outstanding action (20).
Instead, the goalkeeper of Naples Alex Meret did shine to prevent Hellas Verona from getting ahead on the scoreboard, first by saving a shot by Kevin Lasagna (29) and in the second half another shot by Simone Verdi (81).
already with Oshimen, the team’s top scorerand ‘Kvaradona’ on the field, Napoli could have taken all three points with a shot from the Nigerian that crashed into the crossbar, but the score did not move and Napoli added just one point.
– Club and ultras sign peace –
Before the match and ahead of the Champions League duel, Naples released a photo of its president Aurelio De Laurentiis and a representation of the ultras to reduce the tension between the two partiesafter the fans denounced the commercialization of the club.
“We are all the Naples. President and fans united to win,” the president tweeted in a call for the fans to support the team on Tuesday against Milan.
His rival in the Champions League did not achieve victory either in the first game on Saturday. With an eleven full of substitutes, Milan (4th) maintained its irregular line in Serie A with its 1-1 draw in Bologna (1-1).
The ‘rossoneri’, who have won just one of their last six games in the league, could have been evicted from fourth place and from the ‘Champions zone’, but Inter (5th by two points) did not take advantage of the opportunity with his defeat against Monza.
Coach Stefano Pioli opted for a kind of ‘B-team’, with the usual substitutes as starters and only keeping goalkeeper Mike Maignan in the eleven compared to the starting team that defeated Napoli last Wednesday.
Thiago Motta’s Bologna (8th), who seeks to be in the European competitions next year, he moved ahead after barely thirty seconds. Nicolo Sansone got ahead of Pierre Kalulu to score with the first cross of the game (minute 1).
Milan, current champion of Italy, He didn’t take long to react and put goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski in trouble, first with a header from Ante Rebic (20) and then with a free kick from Alessandro Florenzi (22).
Tommaso Pobega, one of the fittest Milanista players, tied the game with a powerful strike Left-handed at 40.
In the second half, Pioli tried to add offensive bite to his team bringing on Rafael Leao and Brahim Díaz in minute 70. Milan had the best opportunities in the final part of the game, but the score did not budge from 1-1 and the Lombards began to think about the great game on Tuesday in Naples , with a ticket for the ‘semis’ of the Champions League at stake.
“We shouldn’t have fit in so soon, but afterwards we controlled the game and we didn’t let Bologna play its usual game. We created a lot of chances, but we weren’t successful enough”, analyzed Pioli.
The other Italian team present in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Inter, he showed his worst face again, the one that has led them to reap four defeats in the last seven Serie A games, after losing 1-0 at home against Monza (12th).
A solitary goal from Luca Caldirola in the final stretch (78) he condemned an Inter that is fifth in the standings, two points behind Milan and out of the qualifying places for the next Champions League.
Unlike Napoli or Milan, who played with many substitutes, Simone Inzaghi removed more than half of the starting team who beat Benfica 2-0 in Lisbon on Tuesday, with the presence of Lukaku and Joaquín Correa in attack instead of Lautaro Martínez and Edin Dzeko as the main novelty.
Precisely, the best scoring chances for the interistas They came from the boots of the Belgian striker (57 and 58) and the skilful Argentine striker (23), but the one who ended up scoring was Monza, when Luca Caldirola headed a corner kick without opposition and two meters in front of the penalty spot, making André Onana’s stretch useless.
Inter no longer had the capacity to react and the fans punished their players with whistles in the final stretch of the game.
