Luciano Spalletti reveals even Giacomo Raspadori isn’t 100 per cent fit against Milan, but whatever happens, they need to ‘enjoy’ every moment of the Champions League quarter-finals.
The first leg of the Champions League quarter-final kicks off at San Siro on Wednesday at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).
It arrives just days after the Rossoneri won 4-0 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in their Serie A meeting.
Victor Osimhen was also out injured for that match, but is now joined on the treatment table by Giovanni Simeone, leaving only Giacomo Raspadori as the centre-forward.
“I think you must work constantly on a team to have that mentality of champions, to face everyone the same way in every arena, to get the maximum result. That is the growth process to achieve important results,” said Spalletti in his press conference.
“The strength of a squad is how various characteristics gel together and so far our team has shown it can choose how to play, sometimes regardless of the line-up I chose. We have won some important games even without Osimhen, so I expect once again that whoever plays will have faith in their own qualities and the faith of their teammates.
“Raspadori only had one light training session today, he did everything he needed to, so we’ll evaluate him again tomorrow morning. Then we’ll choose who will play in that position.”
This is the biggest game of the season for Napoli, who might be running away with the Serie A title, but the Champions League is always a separate tournament.
“These are games that can cancel out everything that happens around it, where the players recognise what is needed for the focus on this match. If you think that Napoli-Milan in Serie A is only of interest to those two fanbases, a Champions League quarter-final means a lot to fans of football all over the world and that is felt by the players.”
Is it the biggest game of Spalletti’s career?
“I hope there will be more important matches than this in my career! It’s true that this is a high point for me and my players. When you reach the quarter-finals of this tournament, you are in stadiums that seem almost impossible to get results, yet we have already shown that we can get those results.
“This is also the kind of moment we need to enjoy, everything including dinner the night before, going to sleep and gearing up to the game. Seeing these lovely lads work with enthusiasm is satisfying for a coach. It’s about more than just the match.”
Unlike the Serie A encounters, this is to be played over two legs and that inevitably casts a different light on the approach taken by both teams.
“For example, rather than risk Osimhen making his injury worse, we can hold him back for the second leg. We saw that Milan won deservedly and are going to evaluate with that in mind too.
“This is the Champions League, and champions do not feel sorry for themselves. They get back up and find a way to be better than the opponents. We weren’t the best 15 days ago, we are not the weakest now. It is a match that can say a great deal for all our futures and I am convinced we’ll be ready.”