The unexpected 4-0 victory by AC Milan over Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Serie A on Sunday suggests that the Champions League quarterfinal matchup between the two Italian teams will likely be closer than first anticipated.
Prior to Sunday, Napoli was thought to be the favourite to win the upcoming Champions League match, but this Serie A home loss totally alters the outlook for the quarterfinals, which are in just over a week. Despite losing for only the third time in Serie A this season, Napoli is still in a strong position to win the championship for the first time in 33 years given their 16-point lead over Lazio, who triumphed against Monza on Sunday. Because of AC Milan’s victory, the battle for the Champions League has become even more uncertain.
The Rossoneri are now third in the league, 20 points behind Napoli and 1 point ahead of fifth place. Rafael Leao had to be at his best for AC Milan to have a performance like this against the best side in the Italian league. The Portuguese winger eventually found his form after Stefano Pioli changed the tactical scheme in January as a result of some disappointing results, scoring his second brace of the campaign. Leao struggled to adjust to the 3-4-2-1 and against Napoli displayed all of his abilities just as Pioli chose to switch back to the four-man defence.
This is the kind of strategy AC Milan needs as we approach the quarterfinals: evidence that it can work. On Sunday, everything went well for AC Milan, and players like Sandro Tonali and Brahim Diaz—who scored the game’s second goal—were among the best on the field.
Napoli and Luciano Spalletti, on the other side, need to worry. Striker, Victor Osimhen, who will likely miss the first game of the quarterfinals on April 12 at San Siro, is an issue for Napoli. The Nigerian striker’s injury forced coach Spalletti to start Giovanni Simeone, but his absence had a significant effect on the performance of the home side.
Osimhen has scored 21 goals in 23 games, and his goals were extremely important to the Scudetto race. The Azzurri really need him to get back for the European matches because his absence against AC Milan was crucial. Now that AC Milan has new perspective on the match, we must not undervalue Napoli. They have established themselves as the finest Italian team this year, and they ought to adopt a different strategy than they did on Sunday.