Rafael Leao stole the show at the Stadio Maradona in Milan‘s 4-0 win over Napoli, but did more than just score a brace, writes Il Corriere dello Sport, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was ‘caged.’ Here’s what Italian sports papers say about the match.
Leao inspired Milan’s 4-0 victory with a stunning brace and was the Man of The Match in Naples, according to all Italian sports papers.
He was rated 8/10 by Gazzetta and Tuttosport and 8.5 by Il Corriere dello Sport. The Rome-based paper highlights Leao’s contribution to Milan’s victory goes beyond his brace. “He inspired the second goal and, above all, helped defensively,” wrote Fabio Mandarini.
“The suspect became a certainty. Milan’s fortunes in the Champions League depend on him, in all aspects.”
Milan and Napoli will meet again in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals at San Siro next week. Clearly, all Milan players received high ratings, but after Leao, the best Rossoneri performers at the Maradona were Sandro Tonali, Brahim Diaz and Ismael Bennacer.
It was a disastrous night for Napoli, reflected in this morning’s Pagelle – Player ratings.
Without the injured Victor Osimhen, all eyes were on Kvaratskhelia who was nullified by Stefano Pioli’s defence.
Kvara was rated 5 by Corriere dello Sport and Gazzetta and 6 by Tuttosport.
The Turin-based paper wrote that the Georgia international was “caged” by the defending Serie A champions.
Amir Rrahmani was the worst player on the pitch for Napoli, rated 4.5/10 by Gazzetta and Tuttosport and 4 by Il Corriere dello Sport.
Mario Rui, Zambo Anguissa, Piotr Zielinski, Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Kim all received similar ratings. According to Gazzetta, the South Korea centre-back was ‘unrecognisable’ but the same applies to the rest of the team.
I swear they don’t even watch the games. Tonali, Diaz and Calabria were all better than Leao last night.