Napoli vs AC Milan

Napoli will be looking to overturn a narrow 1-0 first-leg deficit when they meet fellow Serie A rivals AC Milan in the return leg of their mouth-watering Champions League quarter-final tie at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Despite enjoying the best-ever run in their Champions League and being on the verge of lifting their first Serie A title in 33 years, Napoli won’t go down without a fight. With star striker Victor Osimhen back to the fold with a cameo appearance in last weekend’s 0-0 home league draw against Hellas Verona, Luciano Spalletti’s men will be confident of avenging a brace of H2H defeats ‘to nil’ earlier in April. Indeed, Napoli succumbed to a humiliating 4-0 home loss to Milan at the start of this month, making it back-to-back H2H home defeats without scoring. Against this backdrop, ‘I Partenopei’ are unbeaten in their last 12 home outings in the Champions League (W9, D3), including all four victories by an aggregate score of 14-3 this term. They have impressively scored 3+ goals in all four Champions League home matches this season.

But if there’s a side capable of keeping Napoli’s free-flowing attack at bay, it’s Milan. The visitors have registered a clean sheet in their last five Champions League fixtures, accounting for the best defensive run in Europe’s elite competition since Manchester City’s seven-game streak in 2020/21. Keen to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since their triumphant 2006/07 campaign, ‘I Rossoneri’ can draw confidence from suffering elimination from a knockout tie only twice after winning the first leg. However, barring those two H2H wins against Napoli, Stefano Pioli’s men have drawn their two remaining matches in April versus sub-par opponents, Empoli and Bologna, casting doubts on their lofty ambitions.