In their home turf, Napoli secured their place in final 8 of Uefa Champions League by defeating Eintracht Frankfurt in both legs of round of 16.
Spalletti only made one change from Napoli’s 2-0 win over Atalanta the previous weekend, choosing Rui over Olivera for the left-back position.
In contrast, Glasner made three adjustments to his Frankfurt team after their 1-1 draw with Stuttgart. Lenz took over for Hasebe in the centre of the defence, and Knauff is inserted in place of Max at left wing-back. Kolo Muani was replaced up front by Borre after being suspended.
In order to earn the home team’s first corner, Politano forced a commendable early save from Trapp as Napoli exploded out of the gates. Frankfurt, however, managed to handle the set piece.
Kim was unable to stop the cross when Borre pulled wide to the right, but it ended up just behind Gotze, who was unable to quite control it to make an attempt on goal.
For the first time that night, Kvaratskhelia gained possession of the ball, but Tuta matched him and stripped the Georgian winger of possession.
Kim deflected Knauff’s shot, giving Frankfurt their first corner. Lentz delivered the cross, which Borre attempted to meet but failed to make enough contact with, causing it to fly far wide of the far post.
From just inside Frankfurt’s half, Kvaratskhelia picked up the ball and drove at the opposition’s defence. Ndicka did well to push the winger outside, and Trapp then made a good save to keep the Napoli player from scoring.
Anguissa attacked the ball after Zielinski delivered it, but the central midfielder lacked the strength and control to threaten the Frankfurt goal.
While combining on the right with Knauff, Buta’s cross was blocked by Kim. A defense-splitting pass from Kamada allowed Meret to nick in and claim the ball due to confusion between Gotze and Borre.
Frankfurt almost had a chance to score after a risky pass from Lobotka and a sloppy touch from Kim, but the Napoli defender recovered in time to stop it.
On the verge of halftime, Trapp made a crucial save to deny Kvaratskhelia and maintain parity. Another sharp strike came from the Napoli midfield, and this time, Zielinski provided Kvaratskhelia with the ball. Trapp, however, effectively dispersed himself and made the stop. Following Trapp’s save, Napoli attempted two corner kicks, but Frankfurt stopped both of them.
Osimhen’s header was incredible, and Napoli scored a crucial goal just before halftime. The Italian Politano stood up a cross into the box after the ball was worked out to him on the right. Osimhmen rose up unnoticed and thudded a commanding header past Trapp and into the goal as a result of poor defending by Frankfurt.
The game was definitely over when Osimhen scored his second. Since Frankfurt couldn’t get rid of the ball, Kvaratskhelia was able to float a deft switch to the right wing. Osimhen, who did appear to hurt his wrist in the process, turned home Politano’s low cross after the right-back and captain Di Lorenzo had combined. Di Lorenzo has played well so far and improved upon it with a lovely low cross that enabled Osimhen to score his second.
Kamada attempted to push through the middle of the field, but Kim and Rrahmani constrained his movement. The ball came loose for Borre, but his daring shot missed the mark by a considerable margin.
With a deep looping cross, Osimhen came close to connecting with Kvaratskhelia, but Frankfurt was unable to clear the ball, giving the winger another opportunity. The Georgian moved it to his right foot, but Trapp made another impressive save to stop his strong curling attempt.
Sow was called for a foul for bringing down Zielinski when the ball bounced sloppily in the penalty area. The refree pointed directly at the penalty spot. To defeat Trapp, Zielinski rose and shot square down the middle. Now that Napoli is up 5-0 overall, Frankfurt’s hopes are all but gone.
The ensuing free-kick was taken by Max, and Osimhen headed it behind for a corner. Max’s delivery from the corner was blocked by Meret, who made her way through the crowd.
Kamada attempted to open up space for a shot, but the Napoli defence swarmed the Frankfurt player and thwarted the chance. After Frankfurt repurposed the ball, Elmas gave up a corner. The corner was kicked off by Max, but Meret was able to catch the high ball and that practically summed up the Frankfurt attack.
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