Milan and Napoli faced each other in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Milan, who had emerged victorious with a score of 1-0 in the first leg of the match, became the semi-finalist after this match ended in a draw. While Milan managed to stop Napoli with their defence and counter-attack tactics, the highlights of the match were the penalty misses by both teams and Rafael Leao's assist. The starting 11s of the match between the two Italian teams were as follows:
Osimhen, who did not play in the first leg, is in the starting squad for this match
Milan are playing with the same lineup that beat Napoli 4-0 at the same stadium 16 days ago
NAPOLI IN POSSESSION:
In terms of possession in the match, Napoli dominated 74% to 26%. However, Napoli struggled to use the ball effectively and didn't score a single goal until the 90+3rd minute. Milan's players played very effective in defence when Napoli had the ball and opposed danger with quick counter attacks. They had many counter-attacking opportunities in the match and that's how they scored the goal and won the missed the penalty. Milan responded to Napoli's 4-3-3 attacking formation with a defensive 4-2-3-1. Milan didn't press high and started defending against their opponents in the central third. The Milan midfielders matched up man-to-man with the opposition midfielders and were especially careful not to allow Lobotka to receive the ball. Napoli often used Lobotka during the build-up and Milan tried to counter this by instructing Bennacer and sometimes Giroud to mark him. In addition, Tonali matched up with Ndombele and Krunic with Zielinski. In the midfield, Milan forced Napoli's midfielders to play the ball towards the wings. Napoli had Kvara and Politano on the wings, providing width. Napoli attacked from the right side many times before Politano came off and created dangerous opportunities, but Lozano, who came on after Politano came off, failed to make the same contribution. Therefore, for most of the match, Napoli built-up their attacks from the left through Kvara. But Milan were specially prepared for this.
Milan's 4-2-3-1 formation in defence
Napoli's 4-3-3 and Milan's 4-2-3-1 formations in the midfield. The duo of Krunic and Tonali mark Zielinski and Ndombele, while Bennacer stays close to Lobotka, preventing him from receiving the ball. At the same time, Leao and Brahim Diaz are on the wings and defend against the Napoli full-backs
Here is an example of the match-ups in action
During Napoli's attacks Kvaratskhelia provides width on the left, while Politano provides width on the right
MEASURES against OSIMHEN AND KVARATSKHELIA
Milan took special defensive measures against Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen, Napoli's two main attacking weapons this season. Every time Kvaratskhelia received the ball, Brahim Diaz or Krunic joined Calabria and they outnumbered Kvara 2 to 1. Krunic backed up Calabria's press when he was in a favorable position and Brahim Diaz backed up Calabria's press when Krunic was marking Mathias Olivera or someone else. Calabria also proved to be very effective in defence even in 1v1 situations, winning 9 out of 15 duels in the match. Kvara managed to break through the defence during some attacks, but failed to score a goal. Therefore, despite the fact that he had the highest number of touches in the match with 98, he was ineffective throughout match and was also very tired as a result. Due to his fatigue, he preferred to cross instead of trying to dribble through the defence towards the end of the match and perhaps because of this fatigue, he was unable to convert the penalty he was awarded late in the match into a goal. Osimhen, on the other hand, failed to make the most of his advantage in aerial balls and was also ineffective throughout game. The reason for this was that Milan's centre-back duo had a good match in terms of defending against said aerial balls. Napoli, who made 46 crosses and took 16 corners in the match, could only take advantage of Osimhen's aerial ability in the 90+3rd minute, but it was too late.
When Kvaratskhelia receives the ball, Brahim Diaz immediately joins Calabria in the box and Kvara is outnumbered 2 to 1. Krunic, who is matched up with Zielinski stays close to Kvara and covers space
In this situation, Calabria and Brahim Diaz apply pressure together when Kvara is in possession. Krunic matches up with Mathias Olivera and stays close to Kvara
In this situation, where Politano crosses the ball in from the right, Tomori is in front and Kjaer is behind Osimhen, disrupting him
milan IN POSSESSION:
Although Milan was by far the side with less possession throughout the match, they made their attacks count. The Napoli side applied intense pressure on Milan with a 4-4-2 formation. For the hosts, Osimhen and Zielinski matched up with the opposition centre-backs, while Lobotka defended against Krunic. Zielinski or Osimhen would cut off the passing lane between the centre-back on their side and the number 6, forcing the centre-back to play long. Milan therefore mostly played long and avoided building up play from the back. During goal kicks, instead of starting with a pass, goalkeeper Maignan sent the team forward and took advantage of the aerial ability of the likes of Giroud with long passes. Giroud won 6 of the 9 long balls he was involved in and was successful in winning the long balls sent to him. Milan's goal and the penalty came from counter-attacks. In the 1st goal, Milan's Rafael Leao retrieved the ball from the opponent and then made an incredible run to outrun his opponents and passed to Giroud inside the penalty area. All Giroud had to do was to kick the ball into the empty net. With this goal, in which Rafael Leao's dribbling skills came to the fore, Milan went into halftime with a 1-0 lead and a big advantage.
Napoli's intense pressure up high against Milan. Osimhen and Zielinski mark the centre-backs and when the ball comes to Kjaer, Zielinski directs Kjaer to the flank, cutting him off from the number 6 and the other centre-backs. Meanwhile Lobotka marks Krunic and prevents him from receiving a pass
As Milan practiced many times in the match, goalkeeper Maignan sends his teammates forward before taking the goal kick, and Giroud is there to receive the ball
Rafael Leao, after retrieving the ball in his own half, dribbles the ball into the opponent's penalty area and gets an incredible assist that will be remembered for a while to put his team ahead
CONCLUSION
Napoli, who came to the quarterfinals with high hopes and was expected to win this match-up, drew with Milan at home and was knocked out of the Champions League. Although Napoli had 74% of the possession in the match, they couldn't take advantage of it in the game and found the goal they were looking for too late. Milan showed that having too much of the ball doesn't matter by defending with the right tactics and then scoring on the counter-attack. Milan's special measures for Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen had a big impact on both players' performances and Napoli were left ineffective without the benefit of their 2 stars. In my opinion, when Kvara was subjected to pressure by more than one player, Napoli's left-back should have joined the attack and made runs into the empty space while the 2 defenders were busy marking Kvara. Also for Milan, Rafael Leao had a very good game and crowned his performance with an incredible assist. Leao, who starred, and Maignan, who saved a penalty in the dying minutes, were the main players who brought the round to Milan.
