Milan-Napoli 0-0 LIVE for the 24th matchday of Serie A
Everything as expected for the 22 who will take to the San Siro lawn: Rossoneri with the Adli-Bennacer tandem (Reijnders suspended) covering Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek and Leao, in the trio supporting Giroud, the lone striker. Mazzarri deploys Mazzocchi and Di Lorenzo, leaving on paper the role of under striker to Kvaratskhelia, behind Simeone, in what should be a 3-5-1-1.
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RESULTS
Pioli rejects criticism: ‘My Milan is in form’
A Milan in excellent form, so much so that Stefano Pioli goes unbalanced “How are we from one to 10? Today 10, in two weeks I don’t know but we have worked well and we are in good mind and legs”, preparing to face Napoli with an awareness: the rankings are deceiving. It’s a comparison between two disappointed players, even if Milan is relaunching after an inadequate first part of the season. The Neapolitan team, however, seems to be inexorably far from the glories of last year. “It’s difficult for everyone to repeat themselves, it was difficult for us too the year after the scudetto. However, the championship is still long, they are not far from fourth place and they have great quality and offensive players”, explains Pioli. However, the fourteen point gap was unforeseeable at the start of the season. And Milan, despite the dark periods laboriously overcome, must prevail tomorrow at San Siro against Napoli also to keep the gap from second place Juve to just four points. “Napoli does not have a great ranking but the performance numbers say otherwise. They are an opponent with a lot of quality – warns Pioli – to be faced with a lot of attention. The coach has changed but the qualities have not changed. Mazzarri has not I know if he will play with a three-man defence. He will need attention.” To impose themselves on the Neapolitans, Milan must rediscover a defensive solidity that has been missing for too long. The six goals conceded against Udinese, Bologna and Frosinone were a wake-up call that for the first time also put Mike Maignan in doubt, criticized for being too careless. However, Pioli doesn’t even want to talk about it: “We aren’t interested in criticism, we are so self-critical and severe with ourselves that we don’t care. Champions like Maignan however never lose, they either win or learn something.” The Rossoneri goalkeeper is not questionable but the goals conceded by the Rossoneri are too many. Against Kvaratskhelia and Simeone, Kjaer and Gabbia cannot allow mistakes. But the match, according to Pioli, could be played entirely in midfield, the “nerve area”, as also admitted by the coach, and a department in which – among the Rossoneri ranks – a great return is expected. “Bennacer? He’s fine, he’s back, he had a good week and he’s available from the first minute.” For Thiaw we will have to wait for Thursday with the first leg against Rennes at San Siro while for Kalulu and Tomori there will be greater certainties towards the end of next week. However, the emergency is about to end, just as Milan is preparing to face one of the most delicate moments with five games in two weeks. “We don’t do calculations. Absolutely. We only think about the match against Napoli. That’s our future.”
Mazzarri changes Napoli for the San Siro match
Simeone wants to return to scoring, Kvaratskhelia wants to take over the team definitively, Zielinski wants to be there in the last months before his farewell. Various personal motivations also come into play as Napoli prepares for tomorrow’s match at San Siro, against a Milan team that is not always perfect but which so far is 10 points ahead of the Azzurri, having played one game more. The Rossoneri are therefore far away in the standings for Mazzarri’s team, who however know they have a card to play to feel like a top team again and accelerate their pursuit of the Champions League. The Italian coach doesn’t speak today, on the eve of the match. The objective is to maintain his concentration and also silence towards Pioli, who isn’t sure what Napoli to expect. In the foreground is Kvaratskhelia: the star of the wing, where however he is now super controlled, has also learned to shine in the centre, behind the first striker, where Mazzarri is tempted to deploy him in Milan, leaving Simeone less isolated in the middle of the opposing defense. In fact, the assists for the Argentine are few and are not needed today, the usual crosses for the head of Osimhen, who is absent. Simeone wants to be a protagonist again, in a season in which he has played, but so far he has only scored two goals, in September against Udinese and in November against Real Madrid, and has often felt stuck on the bench and even tempted to leave the team. blue shirt. Now, however, he seems determined to seize the chance to shine again. But the Argentine needs dialogue to shoot from inside the area and Mazzarri thinks about it, and in this sense – in addition to the Georgian – he looks to Politano and Zielinski. The first is well and is ready to try an assist or a shot from outside; the same goes for the Pole, who will say goodbye to Napoli at the end of the season to go to Inter with his contract expired, but who seems very motivated to leave a good memory of himself for the city and the fans he loves. In short, we are looking for bullets to shoot beyond ball possession, but always with the awareness that at Milan we need a defense that holds up. For this reason, the coach will deploy the three central defenders, focusing on Di Lorenzo, Anguissa and Lobotka in midfield, capable of building and stopping the opponent’s action in the bud, forcing the Rossoneri into possession of the ball with few corridors to travel. Mazzarri is still working to develop a team that can really work against a top opponent, a few hours before the start of the match which will be played at the same time as Osimhen’s Nigeria African Cup final, ready to return finding an awakened Naples.
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Source: Ansa
Brayden White, a veteran sports writer at Global Happening, brings his wealth of knowledge and expertise to the sports section. With over a decade of experience, he is committed to delivering high-quality coverage of the latest games and events.
