MILAN:
Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia lead Napoli to the Champions League, the Italian crowns in fine form ahead of Tuesday’s trip. Eintracht Frankfurt.
A club in chaos at the end of last season when its opponents protested, Napoli surprised their own supporters and the rest of Europe by becoming the favorite team in the continent and the champion of Italy in the middle of February.
Napoli did not pass the last 16 in the Champions League but there was no European power in their top of a window left for Luciano Spalletti’s team to go to the continent’s top competition.
The optimism surrounding Napoli is due in large part to Serie A’s famous goal scorer Osimhen and summer signing Kvaratskhelia, a devastating partnership that is central to their chances at home and away.
Between the Nigerians Osimhen and ‘Kvaradona’ have scored half of Napoli’s 56 league goals, the Georgian playmakers also set up nine and gained a kind of self-knowledge. has already toured the world club.
Osimhen is running at almost a goal a game in the Italian top flight, nine in his eight games since the turn of the year took his league tally to 18.
The 24-year-old is looking to add to his one goal in this year’s Champions League, which came in a 4-2 win over Ajax a month after he suffered a serious injury. of Liverpool.
And he believes there is more to come from Kvaratskhelia, who has 12 goals and the same number of assists in all competitions.
“This is just the beginning, you haven’t seen anything yet,” he said.
“I believe he has the quality to make us dream this season. He has a lot of confidence and we are here to help support him.”
Few had pegged Napoli as favorites over a group that contained last year’s finalists Liverpool, as supporters protested their performance despite winning the last year.
What has happened since then has stunned Italian football and made the rest of the continent take notice: Serie A may not be the star-studded show it once was, but the 15 impressive if finishing 23 games is amazing.
Napoli dropped just seven points in Italy’s top flight all season, Diego Maradona’s side seem to have touched the Hand of God and are almost certain to win in their first league appearance in over thirty years.
However after Friday’s 2-0 win at Sassuolo – Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia scored – Spalletti said the current Eintracht outfit had more experience in European competitions after winning the Europa League last season.
They offer the kind of test that Napoli rarely face and have Kolo Muani at his best in the Bundesliga after his costly World Cup miss for France.
However, morale is so high in Naples that even manager Aurelio De Laurentiis said he is looking at the depth of the competition this year.
And with Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia firing on all tires it will not be a surprise if they make the last eight.
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