By 
Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti sees a similarity between Victor Osimhen and Diego Armando Maradona and believes the Nigerian is capable of doing great things even as he insists that Barcelona are ‘as strong as they were with Leo Messi’.
Megasportsarena.com reports that Napoli host the Blaugrana at the Stadio Maradona tomorrow (Thursday) night in the second leg of the Europa League knock-out round play-offs. The first leg at the Nou Camp last week ended in a 1-1 draw.
“Osimhen hasn’t suffered any further problem to his knee so he starts tomorrow (today) against Barcelona,” Spalletti said ahead of the game.
“With that header against Cagliari, he (Osimhen) proved to have a sort of animal fury which is much-needed in key moments. Maradona had the same thing and somebody else should have it in our team.
“You can see Osimhen has it when he faces his opponents. He has outstanding characteristics and some extra qualities that are not easy to find in other players.”
Napoli full-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo also believes Osimhen needs more support if the Partenopei are to stand a chance of winning against their more illustrious opponents.
“We must try to accompany him (Osimhen) more as a team. It is true that in the first leg, as I said before, we suffered a bit from their dribble. If we want to go through, we have to win and be proactive. We need to get Osimhen some more playable balls.”
Napoli were lucky to force a 1-1 draw against Cagliari on Monday, picking one point from the Sardegna Arena thanks to a late goal from Victor Osimhen. They are now on even points with Inter in second place, two points off table leader Milan.
“We should not be affected by sporadic events, but focus on our strengths which brought us to this position in the table,” said Spalletti.
“Surely, we are looking for a different game than the one in Cagliari. We are not a team for physical clashes, we must keep the ball on the ground.
“Barcelona are really strong. They had Leo Messi, but they have the same quality now, with great players everywhere on the pitch. Our target is to have a team that will remain in the fans’ minds.
“We need balance, perhaps I can rotate a bit up front but not in midfield,” he continued.
Comments