Napoli and AC Milan have a date with destiny tonight as only one of the two Italian rivals will make it through to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Milan carry a slender one-goal advantage into the second leg of the tie as Ismael Bennacer got the only goal in the reverse game at San Siro on Wednesday night, which means everything is still to play for at the Maradona tonight.
The outcome of several key battles will be key, starting with the most obvious which is Victor Osimhen against Simon Kjaer. The Nigerian striker missed the two meetings earlier in the month with injury, and while Kjaer stood up to the task against Simeone and Elmas, facing a player with 25 goals this season (plus five assists) is a totally different battle.
Staying with Napoli’s attack, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Davide Calabria will go at it again for the third time in April. Calabria came out on top in the 4-0 and 1-0 wins for the Rossoneri but now the Georgian has Osimhen by his side, and will be looking to build on the 24 goal contributions (14 goals, 10 assists) he has across all competitions this season.
At the other end, the feisty Giovanni Di Lorenzo will be tasked with stopping Rafael Leao. The Portuguese winger wreaked havoc in the last game at the Maradona with a brace and set up the opener on Wednesday. Only Vinicius Junior (36) has completed more dribbles than Leao (33) in the Champions League this season, and he has Theo Hernandez for support.
Olivier Giroud scored the winner in the 1-0 league win in Naples last season and he has been directly involved in six goals in nine appearances in the Champions League this season (four goals and two assists). A duel with the experienced Amir Rrahmani awaits, and he was perhaps lucky not to give away a penalty in the first leg.
Finally, the contest in midfield between Stanislav Lobotka and Ismael Bennacer will again be key. Stefano Pioli has played the Algerian further up in each of the last two meetings to pin Napoli’s deep-lying playmaker, because when he gets on the ball and has time he really can dictate the tempo. With Napoli not having Anguissa, even more will be asked for the former Celta Vigo man.