Despite the 1-0 defeat to AC Milan in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti is not giving up. Spalletti also expressed his anger at the reception the Napoli team received from their own supporters during their recent Serie A game against Milan, where they lost 4-0. He claimed that the Napoli supporters who were present in San Siro for the first leg of the quarter-finals gave a different kind of support that the Napoli team needed. The coach praised his team’s effort and expressed his disappointment at the situation they find themselves in. Napoli were without their top striker Victor Osimhen, who was unavailable due to injury. Additionally, Cameroonian midfielder Anguissa was shown a red card in the game against Milan, which means that he will miss the second leg of the quarter-finals. Spalletti was critical of the performance of the referee, Romanian Istvan Kovács, who he felt did not issue a yellow card for a Milam player when it was deserved. He also expressed regret that Anguissa would not be available for the second leg of the tie, but was confident that the team could cope without him. Despite being a team still in the process of rebuilding, Napoli proved they had quality and fought hard against Milan. Spalletti was proud of his team’s effort, but will need a much better result in the second leg, which will be played at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium.
