Napoli director Cristiano Giuntoli discusses the Stanislav Lobotka contract extension, what he expected from Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and why he hopes to face Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid in the Champions League Final.
It kicks off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona at 20.00 GMT.
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the LIVEBLOG.
The Partenopei won the first leg 2-0 in Germany with Victor Osimhen and Giovanni Di Lorenzo on target, after Kvicha Kvaratskhelia saw his penalty saved by Kevin Trapp.
There was also good news today with the contract extension of midfielder Lobotka, so progress in the Champions League would give them a better chance of keeping their other star names like Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia and Kim Min-jae.
“Lobotka’s renewal allows us to consolidate our project. We will continue with talks to renew with more lads from the current group,” Giuntoli told Amazon Prime and Sky Sport Italia.
“At this moment those who have a long contract still do not need to discuss it, we’ll see over the summer. We are focusing now on those whose deals are closer to expiration.”
Georgia international Kvaratskhelia has become one of the most exciting players in Europe, so Napoli deserve credit for their scouting to find him for just €10m.
“His quality was already visible for a while, we’d been following him for three years and he was still a kid. We hoped that as the years went by, no other clubs would be ready or put up the money to sign him for what was at first the asking price. We also, unfortunately, benefited from the war that made it difficult for the Russian clubs and we stepped in.
“Our hope was to sign a great player, but he is doing perhaps even better than we expected.”
Former Napoli boss Ancelotti is back at Real Madrid and they won the first leg over Liverpool comfortably, so would Giuntoli like to draw Carletto in the quarter-finals?
“If anything, I’d like to face him in the Final! The important thing is to focus on tonight. Despite the first leg result, we must remember that Eintracht Frankfurt are a determined side with a lot of quality, it is a difficult match and we hope the lads will be ready.
“It is going to be a delicate match with a lot of intensity. We have our style of football and will try to give our best, without holding back.”
Despite the violent clashes between Eintracht Frankfurt fans and police in the streets earlier, the situation at the Stadio Maradona seems very calm.
“We saw many people, there is a lot of enthusiasm, we must take the positives from that enthusiasm and set aside the other aspects. History is built day by day, not by resting on laurels or thinking we are at the top.”
Giuntoli has been linked with the role at Juventus, but again shut down the reports.
“Why shouldn’t I stay? I have a one-year contract still.”
Not only have Napoli never reached the Champions League quarter-finals before, but we could see them join Inter and Milan for three Italian representatives in the final eight for the first time since 2005-06.