It was said during the build-up to the tie between AC Milan and Napoli that the battle between Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Davide Calabria could be decisive, and in the end it proved to be but not the way many were thinking.
Calciomercato.com recall how Napoli’s Champions League run came crashing to a half and it was Kvaratskhelia who had the clearest chances, both in the first leg and in the second leg. He wasted one after just one minute of play at San Siro, and then shot over the bar twice last night.
The Georgian is without a doubt a huge talent as he has racked up 14 goals and 14 assists in his first year with the Azzurri, but in April so far he has zero goals and zero assists in five games, having great difficulty against Calabria in the league and the Champions League.
That missed penalty weighs on his shoulders and the winger apologised on social media: “It is difficult for me to see your eyes full of tears, I realise that I have not been able to bring you happiness. I will do my best to learn from today’s experience.
“I am deeply sorry and absolutely grateful for your support which I feel every second! I love you all and I promise we will come back stronger! There are many games ahead, so the dream continues.”
After the match, Spalletti spoke about Kvaratskhelia in the press conference, starting with the pressure that he has felt given the comparisons with some of the best players in the world.
“Initially I tried to take a stand. I was told everything so I had to tag along. All the most illustrious characters with the nicknames Kvaradona and Kvaravaggio bothered me,” he sad.
“The boy is a sensitive persona, a player with great numbers. He will still give us his quality for the goal we have ahead of us [the Scudetto]. Because we need him and he can give us a lot.”
Spalletti has no doubts about the impact that he will be able to have, but it will be playing on his mind that he did not make his mark on the biggest stage.
It’s remarkable. It’s also remarkable that we almost kept three clean sheets in three games over a fortnight against the best offensive club in the league after being on the end of 5-2 and 4-0 defeats against Sassuolo and Lazio, changing formation and then coming back to the original formation. It just illustrates how much of it is psychological plus a small personnel tweak. The use of three “defensive” midfielders and partnering Kjaer with Tomori was more of a revolution than going to a back 3 (5).
I agree with you but Tonali, Krunic, Bennacer need to link quicker in a game and on top of it they must be able to keep possession when under serious pressure. Milan in the beginning of the game they struggled to combine 5 passes.
Defending is a team effort. But as I’ve said before I think because of Calabria’s height he’s able to turn faster than taller defenders. And he’s also agile enough to keep up with Kvar movements. Against his height helps here too. He put up a monstrous effort, the one and only Kvarptonite 🤭
I think this kid is a great talent! You have to give credit where credit is due, Calabria did a great fob on him! Calabria also got help from his teammates! When the Georgiano got the his first move was to take on Calabria one on one! By slowing down when he received the ball he Milan defense time to double and triple team the Georgian player! Great job by the Milan defense! I would have never given that pressure to young player to take that penalty kick! Spalletti should have give that kick to a more experience player!