AC Milan – Napoli: Clinical Counterattack Edges Napoli Past Milan (0-1)

In a battle of matching 4-2-3-1 shapes, a balanced contest was played out. Despite some issues in their press, Napoli stifled much of the Milan chance creation while Insigne and company grew into the game. This gave them the platform to capitalize on the counterattack and see out a victory.

Tactical analysis and match report by Julian Chingoma.

After a crucial 1-1 draw away to Manchester United, Milan would hope to continue the momentum. Any hopes for the Scudetto would be extremely faint but a win here could them within earshot of Inter. More realistically, they would be hoping to cement a top-four spot as those positions appear fairly congested. Amongst this chasing crowd was Napoli. With only Serie A duties to worry about, they were looking to crash into the top four. A win here would significantly boost their Champions League chances.

In a 4-2-3-1 shape, Stefano Pioli sent out Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal. The back four was Diego Dalot, Matteo Gabbia, Fikayo Tomori and Theo Hernandez. Sandro Tonali and Franck Kessié were the double pivot. Samu Castillejo, Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Rade Krunić were in support of Rafael Leão.

Gennaro Gattuso had David Ospina back up the 4-2-3-1 Napoli shape. Elseid Hysaj, Kalidou Koulibaly, Nikola Maksimović and Giovanni Di Lorenzo were ahead of the goalkeeper. The double pivot Two central midfielders next to each other. was Diego Demme and Fabián Ruiz with Piotr Zieliński in the advanced role. Matteo Politano and Lorenzo Insigne were wide while Dries Mertens was up front.

Milan deal well with Napoli press

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