Diego Maradona believes Napoli are “superior” to Milan, but Juventus “have the best squad in the League”.
The Partenopei take on Vincenzo Montella’s side this weekend, and can close the gap to Juventus to just one point with a win, at least temporarily.
“The Milan of the past is gone,” Maradona told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Napoli today are superior in terms of their play, their squad and also the individuals. It’s a game we can win. Montella is doing a good job with the youngsters though.
Diego Maradona believes Napoli are “superior” to Milan, but Juventus “have the best squad in the League”.
The Partenopei take on Vincenzo Montella’s side this weekend, and can close the gap to Juventus to just one point with a win, at least temporarily.
“The Milan of the past is gone,” Maradona told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Napoli today are superior in terms of their play, their squad and also the individuals. It’s a game we can win. Montella is doing a good job with the youngsters though.
“I want a great Napoli, one which always fights for second or third place. We have the people in the stands to win the Scudetto, these fans deserve it.
“What’s lacking is a player like [Arkadiusz] Milik in top-form and a deeper bench with players who know how to be decisive.
“Then they’d be a team to fear. There aren’t many teams with a [Lionel] Messi or [Cristiano] Ronaldo who can win on their own, or almost.
“Is the Scudetto race open? It’s possible, but the Bianconeri have something the other teams don’t have. If you’ll allow something provocative, they have the best squad in the League.
“I think they’ll lead until the end, with no problems.”
Part of that squad is Gonzalo Higuain, who left Napoli this summer to move to Turin…
“It’s no use talking about him now that he’s already gone. He was wrong to do what he did, plotting behind the backs of the fans.
“If he’d done everything out in the open, they’d probably wouldn’t hate him. It’s normal that everyone wants a player who scored 36 League goals, but there are ways of going about it.
“Leaving another team wouldn’t cause a stir, but Napoli is different.”
El Diego confirmed yesterday that he’ll travel with the squad for the Real Madrid game, and he believes his former side can progress in the Champions League.
“I don’t think that the Spaniards believe that beating Napoli will be an easy thing,” Maradona said.
“Of course, they’ll have [Gareth] Bale and [Karim] Benzema back, who are two crucial players. If they played today though, Napoli would have a great chance of going through.”
Maradona and Marco van Basten were both interviewed today, reflecting on their Scudetto battles, and Maradona was asked about the Dutchman.
“He was the most elegant player, in his style and his movement, who I’ve ever come across on a football pitch.
“For me, he’s the best striker who ever played in Italy.”
Napoli were 2-0 up against Van Basten’s Milan in 1988, before losing 3-2. There were rumours of mafia match fixing…
“The Camorra never approached a player. I never saw such a thing in all the years I was in Naples.
“The idea that [President Corrado] Ferlaino sold the game is pure fantasy, because it’s us who went onto the pitch.
“We wanted to win, we’d never have sold it and no-one would have even thought about it. We lost the game because Milan had something more.
“In the second half, with Van Basten and [Ruud] Gullit, the Rossoneri were stronger than anyone. You can’t talk about the Camorra.”