Inter’s victory over Roma extinguished the last hopes of the most stubborn AC Milan fans to be optimistic when it comes to the race for the Scudetto, but the Rossoneri have an obligation to secure third place in Serie A so they can focus on winning the Europa League. One of Napoli’s last trains for qualifying for the next Champions League is passing through the San Siro.It remains to be seen whether Walter Mazzarri’s players will be motivated or killed by the results of Atalanta against Genoa and Bologna against Lecce. If the ‘Goddess’ and the Bolognese win three points, Napoli will have to look for victory at all costs against Milan.The most is expected from Rafa Leao and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Milan and Napoli’s two most talented players are nowhere near as decisive as they were last season, but there are signs from Milanello (AC Milan training camp) and Castel Volturno (Napoli training camp) that things are changing for the better.Stefano Pioli and Mazzarri are the two coaches who are said not to lead Milan and Napoli next season, but both want to leave a deep impression this season.Aurelio De Laurentiis gave Mazzarri until April to ensure his stay on the Napoli bench, underlining that Walter is part of the family, but few believed the words of the Napoli supremo.Inter can’t be stopped! Serie A leaders come from behind to breeze past RomaTonight, Pioli will reach Arrigo Sacchi in the number of games on the Milan bench: 220. Stefano will become the sixth longest-serving coach after Rocco, Ancelotti, Vianni, Capello and Liedholm, but he will probably stay in that position because he will not have a chance to reach the Swede with 280 appearances on Milan’s bench.Tonight, Pioli will send the midfield duo Bennacer-Adli to the pitch, as Reijnders is forced to watch the match from the stands due to a card suspension. Mazzarri will change the formation setup and his team will play in a 3-5-1-1 formation that will be able to transform, if necessary, into a 3-4-3.The spotlights will be on two virtuosos who did not meet expectations this season, but have recently given signals to wake up. On one side, Rafa Leao, on the other, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.##EDITORS_CHOICE##In the last five years, Milan and Napoli in Serie A have divided equally the honors of wins, losses and draws: three triumphs for each and four draws. Since mid-December, i.e. since Luka Jović started scoring, Milan have won the most points in Serie A after Inter: 20 out of a possible 24 points (six wins and two draws).The Rossoneri have scored and conceded two or more goals in their last three matches. Never in the centuries-old history have they tied four meetings in which they scored and conceded two or more goals at the same time. At the San Siro, after five consecutive victories, they drew in their last appearance against Bologna.Napoli are in a big crisis when it comes to goals. No one should be fooled by the two goals scored by Verona at the end of the match. In the last 12 league matches, Napoli did not even score a goal in seven of those. To make things even more serious, Napoli did not shake the net in the last four visits (three defeats and one draw). To find Napoli going five games away from Naples without scoring we have to go back to 1979.📋 AC Milan – Napoli: possible lineups, as per @Gazzetta_it 🗞️#ForzaMilan 🔴⚫️ pic.twitter.com/VWM80haoei— MilanReports (@MilanReportscom) February 11, 2024 Olivier Giroud loves playing against the Neapolitans. In Milan’s jersey, he beat Napoli’s goalkeepers six times, but only once at San Siro. In this season, the Frenchman put his stamp on as many as 19 goals (11 goals and eight assists). The last time Giroud was so productive in a championship was eight years ago when he wore the Arsenal shirt.From the moment when Jović started shaking the nets in Serie A, from December last year, the Serbian striker is the best scorer in the five strongest European leagues if we take the number of minutes spent on the field and the number of goals as a parameter: Luka scores a goal every 41 minutes.On the other end, pay attention to Mateo Politano. The Italian winger has the best goal-scoring performance against Milan: five goals, including four at Meazza. Piotr Zielinski will also return to the Napoli team. Mazzarri has no intention of giving up the Pole’s services in the championship despite these being his final months in Naples as he has already agreed a move to Inter next summer. According to announcements from Castel Volturno, Zielinski will be among the starting eleven.Aspettando Milan-Napoli. pic.twitter.com/l3McQ901BV— CiroCala79 (@Cica7981) February 11, 2024 Milan, apart from the aforementioned Reijnders, cannot still count on Pobega, Tomori, Kalulu and Kaldara while Chukwueze is still at the AFCON. In Milanello, they hoped until the last moment that Tshiaw would be able to be at least on the bench, but in the end they decided not to risk it and the return of the German defender was postponed until next week.On the other side, Napoli will be missing only two players: Mario Rui (suspended) and Victor Osimhen who is playing the African Cup of Nationsfinal with his Nigeria.Milan will play in new black jerseys tonight. This is the fourth kit that the Rossoneri have launched this season.✨ Luci su San Siro! 🌟 È tempo di brillare! #MilanNapoli pic.twitter.com/qIBQ9xMTxi— Lega Serie A (@SerieA) February 11, 2024 SERIE A – MATCHDAY 24FridaySalernitana – Empoli 1-3 (0-1)/Wissman 69 – Zanoli 23 og, Niang 88 pen, Cancellieri 90+4/SaturdayCagliari – Lazio 1-3 (0-1)/Gaetano 51 – Deiola 26 og, Immobile 50, Anderson 65/Roma – Inter 2-4 (2-1)/Mancini 28, El Shaarawy 44 – Acerbi 17, Thuram 49, Angelino 56 og, Bastoni 90+3/Sassuolo – Torino 1-1 (1-1)/Pinamonti 5 – Zapata 9/Sunday14:30: (1.55) Fiorentina (4.20) Frosinone (7.00)17:00: (1.73) Bologna (3.50) Lecce (5.20)17:00: (2.05) Monza (3.35) Verona (3.80)20:00: (3.70) Genoa (3.45) Atalanta (2.15)22:45: (2.00) AC Milan (3.60) Napoli (4.00)Monday22:45: (1.43) Juventus (4.30) Udinese (8.00)***odds are subject to change***
