Max Allegri explains some of his more surprising Napoli choices for the Champions League trip to Villarreal. ‘We hope it goes well, we’ll see if the result goes well too.’
It kicks off at the Estadio de la Ceramica at 20.00 UK time (21.00 CEST).
The Partenopei are playing catch-up in the Champions League after suffering a 1-0 home defeat to Arsenal in the opening fixture, but their confidence was boosted by a 3-0 Serie A win over Frosinone on Saturday.
Allegri reshuffles Napoli pack
“Giovane came on well, Spinazzola used up a lot of energy on Saturday, so we decided to get some fresh legs with McTominay and Gilmour. We hope it goes well, we’ll see if the result goes well too,” smiled Allegri on Sky Sport Italia.
Scott McTominay gets his first start since that heart surgery on September 8 to correct a mild benign arrhythmia, but Frank Anguissa, Mathias Olivera, Antonio Vergara, Alisson Santos, Costantino Favasuli and Alessandro Buongiorno are still out injured.
“It’s normal that for an important match we need to get points, but it is also very difficult. There are seven games left to get the points we need to go through, it would be good to start that tonight, even if we are up against a strong opponent.”
In order to plug the gaps, Giovane was added to the UEFA squad list in place of Favasuli, and the Brazilian is pushed straight into the starting XI for his Champions League debut.
“Giovane can play close to Hojlund, he can be wider. We have David Neres coming back from a long time out injured, Noa Lang used up energy too on Saturday. Giovane is doing well and he deserves this opportunity.”
Villarreal lost their Champions League opener 3-2 away to Borussia Dortmund and were beaten 1-0 by Real Madrid in LaLiga at the weekend, where Vinicius saw red for pulling Nathan Saliba’s hair.
Goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi was expected to start, but withdrew from the squad after it was revealed his home was targeted in an armed robbery late last night with his family present.