Champions League blockbuster in Naples …as Napoli host Real Madrid
One of the blockbuster fixtures of the 2023/24 Champions’ League group stage arrives on today as Real Madrid travel to southern Italy to take on Napoli.
These two sides are expected to progress from Group C, and both secured slender victories on match day 1 to get their respective campaigns off to the perfect start.
While Napoli won 2-1 away at Braga, Real Madrid struck at the last against Union Berlin through the irresistible Jude Bellingham.
A trip to Naples has been a daunting task for many in recent times, but the Spanish outfit will head into today’s bout full of confidence after they dismantled the high-flying Girona in La Liga on Saturday night. Napoli were also victorious at the weekend, beating Lecce 4-0, with Rudi Garcia’s side responding well on the pitch from all the off-field drama surrounding star striker, Victor Osimhen.
The hosts will be without a pair of centre-halves on today as both Juan Jesus and Amir Rrahmani are out injured. That means summer arrival, Natan and Leo Ostigard, will continue as the starting pair.
Garcia made a couple of changes to his side away at Lecce on Saturday, and we should see Osimhen and Matteo Politano return to the frontline.
Giacomo Raspadori is also pushing for a start.
Real Madrid were dealt an injury blow last week when David Alaba limped off in the win over Las Palmas. While the Austrian isn’t
expected to be sidelined for too long, although he’ll miss today’s Champions League bout.
Eder Militao and Thibaut Courtois are long-term absentees for the visitors, while Arda Guler endured an injury setback and will be out of action until the October international break.
Luka Modric could return to the team on today, as could Rodrygo up top.
Vinicius Jr’s return is a massive boost for the visitors, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side looking somewhat one-paced in attack in his absence. However, the Brazilian adds another dimension to Los Blancos, with his speed in transition and ruthlessness in the final third potentially key to an away win on today.
This will be an intriguing chess match between the two managers, with both sides keen to dominate the ball. Overall, a contest of peaks and troughs should be expected and the spoils might be shared come the end of it.-90min
