Napoli director Mauro Meluso explains why Walter Mazzarri changed to a 3-4-3 formation for the Supercoppa Italiana semi-final against Fiorentina. ‘He worked on it over the last few days.’
It kicks off at the Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh at 19.00 GMT.
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the LIVEBLOG.
The winner will be decided tonight after 90 minutes or go straight to a penalty shoot-out, without extra time, then face either Inter or Lazio in the Final on Monday.
The big change going into this showdown is the switch to a 3-4-3 formation, dropping the 4-3-3 that had allowed Napoli to win the Scudetto under Luciano Spalletti last season.
“Mazzarri had worked with the team on this tactical idea over the last few days. It is a system he already worked with in the past, but this was also necessary because we lost a few players in defence and midfield, so it was easier to move to this shape,” Meluso told Mediaset.
“Last season was exceptional in every way. Since Mazzarri arrived, the coach has had very little time to work with the players in training, as many of them have been on international duty and then we played every three days with big games.
“The coach came into a situation that was already a bit of an emergency, so despite some very good performances, we did not always get the results that we deserved. We have to look to the future with confidence and remember we are in the Champions League Round of 16, while in Serie A we must not look too far ahead, but focus on doing our best one game at a time.”
Napoli have been very active on the January transfer window, bringing in Pasquale Mazzocchi from Salernitana – who starts today – Hamed Junior Traore on loan from Bournemouth and Cyril Ngonge from Verona.
“These were the primary objectives, we are also monitoring the situation to see how we can improve the squad with opportunities in January, especially as we have some injuries and two big players away at the Africa Cup of Nations.”
Victor Osimhen and Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa are on international duty, while Alex Meret, Natan, Mathias Olivera and Diego Demme are on the treatment table.
Kvaratskhelia in Riyadh 📍#NapoliFiorentina | #EASPORTSFCSupercup pic.twitter.com/VlSQICOQhi
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) January 18, 2024