MILAN (AFP) – Napoli will try to shrug off the disappointment of their Champions League exit tomorrow as Serie A’s runaway leaders travel to Juventus hoping to take another step towards their first league title since 1990.
A quarter-final exit at the hands of AC Milan on Tuesday night leaves Napoli with eight games left in their season to secure a Scudetto which has long looked inevitable but whose arrival has been slowed by some jittery recent form.
Luciano Spalletti’s formerly free-scoring side have only netted three times in their five matches since the international break, four points from their last three league matches enough to see their imposing lead at the top of the table cut to 14 points.
As it stands Napoli need 11 more points to secure the title but tomorrow’s match is another tough test of the sort they have failed in recent weeks.
Spalletti’s teams are notorious for having bad dips in form during the Spring and April has been a poor month for his latest outfit, as injuries and fatigue of a long season begin to take their toll.
The Tuscan coach has Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Kim Min-jae available after they were suspended for Tuesday’s elimination, which however left forward Matteo Politano and full-back Mario Rui unavailable for the trip to Turin, with Amir Rrahmani also a doubt.
And their trip north to the hostile territory of Turin comes with Juve in third place after their 15-point penalty for illicit transfer activity was revoked by Italy’s highest sporting court pending a new ruling from the Italian Football Federation’s (FIGC’s) appeals court.
That decision completely changes the race for next season’s Champions League, with both Milan clubs outside the top four just one day after a local derby between the pair in the semi-finals of Europe’s top club competition was confirmed.
AC Milan are fifth before their home fixture with Lecce tomorrow, three points behind Roma who sit just inside the top four.
