Milan and Napoli collected draws against Bologna and Hellas Verona, respectively on Saturday, with similar approaches but different performances, writes Lorenzo Bettoni.
The Rossoneri were held to a 1-1 draw by Thiago Motta’s Bologna at the Stadio Dall’Ara, seeing Nicola Sansone score an early opener after less than a minute. Tommaso Pobega, Milan’s best player in Bologna, netted the equaliser just before the break and the Rossoneri had several chances to win the match in the second half.
Pioli started an unusual line-up with 10 reserves plus Mike Maignan. The likes of Charles De Ketelaere, Divock Origi and Ante Rebic all started at the Stadio Dall’Ara alongside Fodé Ballo-Touré, Malick Thiaw and Alessandro Florenzi.
Theo Hernandez and Olivier Giroud remained on the bench for 90 minutes, while Rafael Leao, Davide Calabria, Junior Messias and Brahim Diaz were introduced in the second half when the Diavolo could have scored the second goal to secure a much-needed victory.
Despite Pioli’s heavy rotations, Milan put in a convincing performance, especially in the second half. The Rossoneri boss also complained about two potential penalty kicks that referee Davide Massa did not award, but Milan reserves, especially in attack, have once again proved they are not up to the task.
De Ketelaere continued to struggle and was rated 4/10 by La Gazzetta dello Sport. He will surely return to the bench on Tuesday when the Rossoneri visit Napoli at the Stadio Maradona in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals following their 1-0 win at San Siro earlier this week.
The Partenopei were also held to a 0-0 draw by strugglers Hellas Verona. Victor Osimhen returned to action, but was only introduced in the second half. Luciano Spalletti initially rested Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Piotr Zielinski, and Stanislav Lobotka, who were all introduced in the second half, while Amir Rrahmani and Mario Rui remained on the bench for the entirety of the game.
The Partenopei were sloppy for most of the match, and it was clear that their priority was not wasting energy ahead of Wednesday’s historical game with Milan. Following their draw with Hellas Verona, their lead over second-placed Lazio has been reduced to 14 points, so with only eight games remaining, their third Serie A title in history doesn’t seem to be under threat.
Napoli had the best chance of the game with Osimhen, who hit the crossbar in the final minutes, but shortly later, they could have capitulated if it wasn’t for Cyril Ngonge, who wasted a counter-attack, attempting one of the worst lob shots you’ll ever see.
The good thing for Napoli is that their ultras supported the team for the whole game and the same will likely happen next week when Il Diavolo arrives in town. President Aurelio De Laurentiis had posted a picture with some ultras representatives only a few hours before kick-off, highlighting that the club and the fans are all on the same side. On Tuesday, we’ll know if that will be enough to beat Milan and qualify for the Champions League semis.
@lorebetto