Daniele Doveri has been named the referee for tonight’s game between AC Milan and Napoli, with AIA clearly opting for experience.
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It’s a massive one at Stadio Maradona! Napoli are currently just one point behind Milan in the standings, and with a win, they would leapfrog the Rossoneri. Meanwhile, the latter will be looking for at least a draw to protect themselves.
As always when it comes to these big games, there will be focus on the officiating and in that sense, the AIA have tried to protect themselves. As announced a few days ago, the experienced Daniele Doveri (48 years) will officiate the game.
Not bad so far
Doveri has been in charge of 35 games involving Milan, so there are many precedents, and the record so far is pretty good: 20 wins, 9 draws and 6 defeats. Coincidentally, only Napoli have won more games with the referee (22), but they have also had more games with him at 42.
Milan have received two red cards from the referee, both as a result of second yellows, and they have been awarded 8 penalties. That’s the most he has given to any Italian side, alongside Inter and Atalanta (i.e. also at 8)
As for recent precedents, Doveri officiated the derby win against Inter last month, when Pervis Estupinan scored the winner for Milan. There was no real controversy in that one, especially since Open VAR made it clear that Samuele Ricci’s handball wasn’t a penalty.
The referee was also in charge of the 3-0 win against Udinese early in the season, so Milan have pretty good vibes with him so far. The most important thing, of course, is that AIA went with an experienced referee here and not some rookie.