The big night has arrived. After a long wait, Napoli is ready to experience one of the most important matches in its history and not just in the recent one. The round of 16 of the Champions League had already been reached a few years ago with Mazzarri, but Real Madrid, with all due respect to Chelsea, is something else altogether. One could almost speak of a first time at the Bernabeu, because in the only previous official match between the two teams (September 1987, XNUMX) yes, the match was played in the Chamartin stadium but behind closed doors.
This evening, however, the fans will be there, and how if there will be: many blancos, all right, but also an army of Azzurri (about 20, many of whom, however, without tickets) who promise to make themselves heard as if they were playing at the San Paolo . The side dish is of the highest quality, but now it will be the turn of the field and there we will understand if Napoli will really be able to try for real.
“It's an almost impossible challenge against the strongest in the world – explained Sarri at the press conference. – But I believe that my team will have the cheek to attack and play their game, I'm ready to accept any result but not a fearful performance from my boys. We have no other choice, having a different race would be counterproductive."
The coach puffed out his chest in a sort of all-in: should it go badly, in fact, his statements could come back to him like a boomerang. But the desire to shout one's ambitions to the world was stronger than the low profile, an attitude which, if repeated on the pitch by the players, could really overturn the hierarchies.
On the other hand, even the Madrid world, which has always been rather snobbish towards its opponents (the club's anthem reads "Hala Madrid y nada mas", "only Madrid and nothing else"), is starting to look askance at this team so little Italian in the way of playing, much more devoted to vertical and offensive football than to the management of matches.
“Sarri's game is very good, he's doing a really good job – commented Zidane. – We are ready but we also know that there will be suffering, they are very technical and fast, I expect a complicated game. I fear their strikers, not Maradona in the stands."
Yes, because the presence of the Pibe de oro, flown to the Spanish capital to push Napoli towards a feat that would be historic, almost as much as the two championships won by him, was added to enrich this challenge, already full of ideas. . Diego, close to becoming the club's ambassador in the world, will sit next to De Laurentiis and will try to convey all of his greatness to the "heirs" in the blue shirt.
However, he will not be able to go on the pitch, so Sarri will have to rely on the usual 4-3-3 to attempt the feat. There are essentially two doubts and they concern the midfield, where Zielinski, Diawara, Allan and Jorginho play two shirts. Choosing the first two would mean playing it even more offensively, while the others would give Napoli less technique but a pinch more substance.
The impression is that Sarri decides to opt for the first option and to rely on a 4-3-3 with Reina in goal, Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly and Ghoulam in defense, Zielinski, Diawara and Hamsik in midfield, Callejon, Mertens and Insignia in attack. Zidane, forced to do without Bale again, will respond with the same game system, putting the 3-5-2 tried in last Saturday's away match (victorious but painful) in Pamplona in the attic.
In front of Keylor Navas there will be Carvajal, Varane, Sergio Ramos and Marcelo, with Kroos, Casemiro and Modric in the midfield and the trio Lucas Vazquez-Benzema-Cristiano Ronaldo in attack. Naples is ready to fight and live a dream night, in the hope that this can turn into a splendid reality.
