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AC Milan’s surprise and dominant 4-0 win over Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday means the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals between the two Italian sides could be more competitive than initially thought. Before Sunday, Napoli were considered the favorites to win the European clash, but this home defeat completely changes the scenario for the quarter-finals, just over a week away.
Despite losing their third game of the Serie A season (after Inter away and Lazio at home before half time), Napoli are still well positioned to win the title for the first time in 33 years given their 16 point lead over Lazio , that won. against Monza on Sunday. AC Milan’s victory added further uncertainty to the Champions League race, as the Rossoneri are now third in the league, 20 points behind Napoli and one point above fifth.
AC Milan needed the best version of Rafael Leao to pull off this kind of performance against the best team in the Italian league. The Portuguese winger scored his second brace of the season and finally shone after Stefano Pioli decided to change the tactical system in January after some poor results. Leao struggled to adapt to the 3-4-2-1 and showed all his potential and skills against Napoli, just as Pioli decided to move back to the four-man defence. That is probably no coincidence. Looking ahead to the quarter-finals, this is what AC Milan need: a plan with evidence that it can work.
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Everything worked out for AC Milan on Sunday, because players like Sandro Tonali and Brahim Diaz (scored the second goal) were also among the best players on the field. On the other hand, Napoli and Luciano Spalletti should be concerned. The Azzurri missed out on the chance to break Juventus’ points record as Antonio Conte’s Juventus tallied 103 points during the 2013/14 season.
Napoli has to contend with the absence of striker Victor Osimhen, who also doubts whether to play the first leg of the quarter-finals on April 12 in San Siro. His injury left coach Spalletti playing Giovanni Simeone as a starter, but the absence of the Nigerian striker had a major impact on the home side’s performance. Osimhen scored 21 goals in 23 games and his goals had a crucial impact on the Scudetto race, and without him the team didn’t have nearly as much grit.
His absence against AC Milan was fundamental and the Azzurri really need him to recover for the European games. AC Milan now looks at the draw with different eyes, but we should not underestimate Napoli. They have proven to be the best Italian side this season and they should have a different approach to Sunday’s. We’ll definitely have two fun games to watch this month.
You can watch all the Champions League action live on Paramount+.
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