For all the fire and passion, for all the noise and fury, for all that it has played brilliantly at times this season, there was a curious quiescence about Napoli as it went out of the Champions League against AC Milan. Stefano Pioli’s side defended diligently, and, although it eventually conceded in stoppage time, advanced to the semifinals by a 2–1 aggregate. After all the drama we’ve become used to at this stage of the competition, all the great comebacks, this was a very old-fashioned style of tie won by old-fashioned virtues.
Having been so good all season, Napoli has just lost its edge in recent weeks. It will still, almost certainly, win Serie A, which it leads by 14 points with eight games remaining, but having been such a fluent attacking side, the goals have dried up a little over the past few weeks. Napoli had failed to score in three of its four games before Tuesday, two of those against Milan.
Pioli’s record over his career against Luciano Spalletti was poor for a long time; Pioli failed to win any of their first 11 meetings. But he has now won three and drawn one of their last five encounters. There is a sense that there is something in how this Milan plays—its low block, its doggedness—that frustrates the high-tempo football of Napoli and then exploits its high line.
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The game followed a similar pattern to the first leg. Napoli was ostensibly on top, dominating possession, but without creating clear chances. There was a difference to Napoli’s approach with Victor Osimhen back after injury, although he looked a little rusty after three weeks out with a groin injury—a period, of course, that coincides with Napoli’s loss of potency. This time, there was a barrage of crosses, but Fikayo Tomori and Simon Kjær handled that comfortably enough. And when Milan did go forward, it looked dangerous, counter-attacking mostly down the left through Rafael Leão.
What a run from Rafael Leão as he sets up Olivier Giroud for the goal! AC Milan leads Napoli 2-0 on aggregate
— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) April 18, 2023
(via @CBSSportsGolazo)pic.twitter.com/0nkAIzbg0e
It was a panicky challenge from Mário Rui on Leão that earned Napoli the penalty that Olivier Giroud saw saved, and it was the Portuguese forward’s surge that set up the opener for Giroud. The former Arsenal and Chelsea striker had also missed one other excellent chance that had been gifted to him after a poor clearance from Napoli keeper Alex Meret.
Alex Meret comes up with a massive save on Olivier Giroud’s penalty to keep Napoli from a two-goal deficit!
— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) April 18, 2023
(via @CBSSportsGolazo)pic.twitter.com/VFkLdF1RgB
It was a similar story after the break, at least until Tomori was penalized for handball with eight minutes remaining. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s penalty was well saved low to his right by Mike Maignan, and, with that, Napoli’s defeat was complete. Osimhen did head in a Giacomo Raspadori cross in the 93rd minute, but there was barely time to kick off after that before the full-time whistle.
Milan is a surprise presence in its first Champions League semifinal since it last won the title in 2007. It lies only fourth in Serie A and has won only one of its last six Serie A games. Not even the most devout Milan fan would claim it is one of Europe’s great sides at the moment. But under Pioli it does present an unusual challenge in sitting deep and absorbing pressure, happy to play for the clean sheet. It was 30 seconds from six shutouts in a row for Milan in the Champions League; the last goal it conceded in the competition before Osimhen’s header was scored by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in Chelsea’s 2–0 win last October.
It’s a high-risk strategy and it’s not clear how well Milan would react if it went behind; it certainly doesn’t look a side that would be comfortable chasing a game, but recently in the Champions League that hasn’t mattered. It’s defended doggedly and with discipline and got its plans right. Kvaratskhelia has been exceptional this season, but, other than one chance from a narrow angle early in the second half, he was kept quiet by Davide Calabria.
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Matteo Politano did seem to have the better of Theo Hernández on the other flank, but he succumbed to injury after 34 minutes and had to be replaced by Hirving Lozano. Rui also went off injured before halftime, and Amir Rrahmani also went off injured before the end. Napoli is not the deepest squad, and, it is, perhaps, beginning to show the strain. In the end it was an anticlimactic exit for Napoli, but it had never been in a Champions League quarterfinal before, and should seal its first Scudetto in 33 years. This has still been a very fine season.
Milan, meanwhile, can look forward to a semifinal—probably, with Inter 2–0 up from its first leg against Benfica, a Milan derby as it was in the last four 20 years ago.
