Against Milan, Napoli crashed on the unbearable lightness of his attack

Just like in The Godfather, Back to the Future and all the great trilogies worth mentioning, the second act of Milan-Napoli was even better than the first: the absurd and surprising fireworks (all from one side only) of the match of ten days ago have given way to a hard-fought, balanced, nervous match as it should be, even cerebral at times as in the final ten minutes in which Milan lacked the courage to launch a little more in search of the 2-0, preferring to keep the goal lead. We feel like saying that the final result is the right one: 1-0 Milan, no more, no less, because Napoli lasted too little and then crashed on the unbearable lightness of its offensive phase, where the three forwards proposed by Spalletti – each for his own reasons – all had the wrong night and the most dangerous, in scarce fifteen minutes, Politano turned out. 1-0 Milan, neither more nor less, because Milan interpreted the match as they did in Milan-Tottenham, iron concentration in defense and burning counterattacks whenever they could, such as on the occasion of the goal, the chance of Leao and the two yellows remedied by Theo who put Anguissa out of action last night and next Tuesday.

Osimhen’s absence was very bloody in a Napoli that started very strong, crossing the first sliding door of the evening (and perhaps of the season) already after fifty seconds, when Krunic first gave away a sensational ball-goal to Kvaratskhelia and then stopped it , causing the mental exit from the match of the ondivago Georgian, one of those who seems to suffer the most from the absence of his friend Victor on the pitch. For twenty minutes Milan genuinely struggled to get past the half, and the wholeheavy metal played by Napoli would have deserved a thicker frontman than the frightened Elmas, great runner but impalpable false nueve; but this passed the convent. Then Leao’s blaze (why wasn’t he booked for having torn up the flag?) woke up Milan, woke up San Siro and sowed the worm of doubt in the minds of many Neapolitans, who instinctively lowered themselves by about ten meters, giving the breath back to an opponent who is finally more colorful. The decisive action is yet another piece of Brahim Diaz’s skill: after the solo against Juventus in October, after the decisive goal against Tottenham, after the monstrous first half against Maradona, he has once again directed a great game. Maybe the Napoli defense shouldn’t have recoiled so much, taken aback by the violent acceleration of the Spaniard: Bennacer pounced on that ball well played by Leao, with the hunger of one who is observing Ramadan. Five minutes of emotional blackout from Napoli follow, with Kjaer printing the 2-0 ball on the crossbar which, after such a first half, would honestly have been the stuff of a balaclava.

The game moved in the direction desired by Milan, and this naive Napoli didn’t know how to do better than piling up corner kicks, waiting in vain for a nod from Kvaratskhelia who, on the only occasion he managed to find space, insisted on yet another dribble and had the door closed in his face by Calabria. The long impasse in the second half was broken by two gusts of wind from Theo Hernandez, the supreme collector of other players’ cards, who eliminated the naive Anguissa from the first leg and second leg, already on the mend of a replacement for several minutes. One of Spalletti’s various hesitations, which in our opinion delayed Politano’s entry too much instead of a Lozano constantly devoured by Hernandez. Napoli’s second micro-tilt produced a silly yellow card from the cautioned Kim and seemed like the prelude to a final agony, but there it was Milan who didn’t have the strength and courage to put their foot down on the pedal, limiting themselves to two Rafa Leao pullers. Indeed, the usual proverbial Maignan moment has arrived, which in all these great Rossoneri nights is never lacking: an amazing intervention on Di Lorenzo who recalled Dida, for the ease with which he makes saves seem elementary that are not at all. The 1-0 is good for Milan and Napoli doesn’t mind too much, who has to worry more about the disqualifications than the result. Knowing full well, however, that the 22 points that separate them from Milan in the championship have no value when the Champions League music plays: even more so when Osimhen is missing, whose presence-absence promises or threatens to be the catchphrase that will fill the next six days. Milan comes out of match 2 fortified in their certainties, unbeaten for 180 minutes against the best attack in the championship, unbeaten for five matches in Europe, unscathed by a half hour of great (and perhaps unexpected) suffering. Napoli has less certainties, but at least has great hope.