AC Milan vs Napoli

Two of Italy’s three remaining representatives in the Champions League face each other at the Stadio San Siro as AC Milan and Napoli go head-to-head in the first leg of their blockbuster quarter-final tie.

A 1-0 aggregate triumph over Tottenham Hotspur in the round of 16 fired Milan into their first Champions League quarter-finals in 11 years. But they’ll be looking to go one better and reach the semi-finals for the first time since their triumphant 2006/07 campaign. Standing between them and the last four will be a Napoli side they thumped 4-0 in Serie A earlier in April, drawing first blood in a mouth-watering H2H trilogy taking place this month. However, while that success helped Milan snap an underwhelming four-match winless run in all competitions, Stefano Pioli’s men slumped again last weekend, drawing 0-0 with bottom-half Empoli at home. Pioli wouldn’t mind another clean sheet, though, especially given that it would see ‘I Rossoneri’ register five consecutive shutouts in a single Champions League season for the first time since 2004/05.

On the other hand, Napoli’s maiden foray into the Champions League knockout stages was off to a flying start as they comfortably dispatched Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 on aggregate to move into the quarter-finals. Luciano Spalletti’s team bounced back from the abovementioned H2H demolition with a hard-earned 2-1 win at Lecce last weekend, maintaining a cruising 16-point cushion at the Serie A summit. That result extended the visitors’ outrageous away form to eight successive victories on hostile turf. Interestingly, before Lecce’s first-half strike at Via del Mare, Napoli had won seven straight matches on the road by 2+ goals ‘to nil,’ highlighting the level of confidence running through their veins now. But with star striker Victor Osimhen ruled out with injury, ‘I Partenopei’ may have problems adding to their impressive 25-goal tally in this season’s Champions League.