4-2-3-1 Lineup as AC Milan drops strong starting XI to battle Napoli in Champions League

Team News

Napoli will be without Victor Osimhen for the opening leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash against AC Milan.

The striker, who has 25 goals for Napoli this season in Serie A and the Champions League, suffered an adductor injury while on international duty with Nigeria and has missed his club’s previous two matches, including a devastating league defeat to Milan.

In addition to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who presumably suffered a career-ending injury earlier this month, Milan will be without Pierre Kalulu. The Frenchman is scheduled to miss out due to a calf injury, leaving experienced defender Simon Kjaer to compete with Malick Thiaw for the opportunity to accompany Fikayo Tomori in Pioli’s backline.

4-2-3-1 Lineup as AC Milan drops strong starting XI to battle Napoli in Champions League
        4-2-3-1 Lineup as AC Milan drops strong starting XI to battle Napoli in Champions League

As for Napoli, Osimhen’s absence is a huge setback for Spalletti’s side, as evidenced by that previously mentioned match in Naples. After second-string striker Giovanni Simeone suffered a thigh injury against Lecce, the Italian boss will have to change things up in the attacking third. This could allow Giacomo Raspadori to make his long-awaited comeback to the starting lineup.

Milan vs Napoli Potential Lineups

Milan (4-2-3-1): Mike Maignan; Davide Calabria, Fikayo Tomori, Simon Kjaer, Theo Hernandez; Sandro Tonali, Rade Krunic, Ismael Bennacer; Brahim Diaz, Rafael Leao; Olivier Giroud.

Napoli (4-3-3): Alex Meret; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Kim Min-Jae, Amir Rrahmani, Mario Rui; Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Stanislav Lobotka, Piotr Zielinski; Hirving Lozano, Giacomo Raspadori, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Milan vs Napoli 

Without Osimhen, we’d give Milan a slight upper hand. But while we expect the hosts to take advantage of the Nigerian’s absence and gain a first-leg lead, this tie will likely go down to the wire.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*