Luciano Spalletti, the Napoli coach, declared on Tuesday that his players must go out tomorrow “with the mentality of champions” in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Milan.
“We have to go out with a mentality of champions that does not distinguish between playing at home or away, regardless of who we have in front of us,” he said. Spalletti at the press conference before the match at San Siro.
“The relevance of some matches has not escaped the players. If a match between Napoli and Milan in Serie A is of interest only to the fans of both teams, matches like this in the Champions League are followed by the whole world.” Spalletti added.
The coach faces arguably the most important game of his career, with the Champions League semifinal at stake, but he aims high and hopes for more important clashes in the season.
Spalleti aims high
“Hopefully there will be something else important in the future. We have to be aware of what we can do, because we have already shown in this edition that we can compete with certain teams. Meanwhile, let’s enjoy these times, including the preparation. for the match, from dinner tonight to training camp,” Spalletti said.
Osimhen, for returning
The Italian coach could not hope Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen, the undisputed headliner with his scheme: “Napoli have shown so far that they know how they want to play beyond the formation they have chosen and if we are here, it is also because we have won important games without Osimhen, with the team and on the day of the team.”
“In a tie, some assessments were made, such as not risking Osimhen because he could be useful in the second leg,” explained Spalletti.
Raspadori, doubt
instead the Italian Giacomo Raspadori could enteralthough he only trained this Tuesday with the group and it remains a doubt: “We have to make some assessments about him. He only trained today, we will do a test tomorrow morning and then we will decide if who will play.”
The controversy with Maldini
In addition, he settled the controversy that arose after a brief verbal discussion with his compatriot Paolo Maldini, current sports director of Milan.
“Things on the field don’t continue off the field and I have a lot of respect for Maldini, that I called to work with us in Russia with Zenit. At that time he had other plans and he refused, but I say this so that people can understand how much I value him. In June 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, at a time when I was not training, I made a publication in which two shirts were clearly visible: De Rossi and Maldini,” said Spalletti.
Source: La Verdad

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