Napoli is the first finalist of the Italian Super Cup: beaten Milan. Conte redeems himself after the efforts of the last few weeks, Allegri misses his second goal of the season
Anyone who thought that Antonio Conte had asked his team to leave their suitcases ready in the hotel, hoping for a quick return to Italy, will have been disappointed. It was Napoli who snatched the pass to the final of the Italian Super Cup – awaiting the challenger who will emerge from the match between Bologna and Inter – who mistreated Milan in Cristiano Ronaldo’s stadium redeeming in one fell swoop both the bad reputation of those who prefer to go out, if it’s not about the championship, and the painful defeats of the last week.
Naples, is good physical condition back?
Beautiful and clear victory, that of the Neapolitans. It’s as if moving to Saudi Arabia made Conte’s boys forget all the ailments of this winter of many injuries and few rotations. It was decided by the greater quality put on the field, the hunger to reach the final and also an unsuspected competitive intensity. Of course, the bad evening of Maignan gave a hand: imprecise on the occasion of the advantage of Neres and not sufficiently reactive in doubling of Hojlund.
Despite the unexpected help from the French goalkeeper, however, Napoli deserved the victory in every way and will enter Monday’s final full of conviction. It is the answer that the Neapolitan fans expected and that Conte himself asked for from a group that was subjected both physically and tactically in both Lisbon and Udine. Full redemption.
Milan also misses their second goal of the season
Milan, on the other hand, disappointed quite a bit. Allegri had chosen the path of rational turnover, saving Modric some effortperhaps thinking of being able to unleash it in a possible derby re-edition of last January. In general, the Rossoneri wasted in the first part, when they built the chances to give a different meaning to the match, and they gave up once they had overcome the disadvantage.
In short, after the defeat in the Italian Cup against Lazio, the second goal of the season fades away. The championship remains, which is the core business of the AC Milan season, all aimed at winning a place in the next Champions League. Losing against Napoli is not a failure, but it still rings a small alarm bell for a team that had become accustomed to always (or almost always) winning direct matches. In Riyadh it was not enough to replicate the usual script.
