Napoli will be eager to get back into the win column after suffering only their second league defeat of the season. Meanwhile, Atalanta hope for a positive result to avoid falling too far behind in the race for Champions League qualification.
SSC Napoli
Including their Matchday 25 defeat to Lazio, Napoli have lost four matches in all competitions this season. All four times the Partenopei responded with a victory. One of those victories was against Atalanta, which came after Napoli’s loss to Liverpool in the Group Stage of the Champions League.
Once again, Luciano Spalletti has worked hard to keep his players focused on the task at head. On Wednesday, his side will play in what might be the most important Champions League match in the club’s history. Napoli have a two goal advantage over Eintracht Frankfurt in their Champions League Round of 16 tie. If the Azzurri can stave off a short-handed Frankfurt in the return leg at the Maradona, Napoli would advance to the Quarterfinals for the first time in club history.
But first, Napoli face a difficult league opponent in Atalanta. With Inter’s 2-1 defeat to Spezia, Napoli could open up a 17-point gap over their nearest rival, assuming Lazio defeat Bologna. That would reduce the magic number to seven with only 12 league matches left to play.
Atalanta BC
Atalanta have had a roller-coaster of a season. After finishing 8th in the league in 2021/22, the Bergamaschi got off to a strong start to the 2021/22 campaign. Atalanta did not suffer their first league defeat until Matchday 11 and found themselves in the top 4 through 14 rounds.
However, the Nerazzurri have been on the fringes ever since, after winning only one of their next six matches. Atalanta’s struggles are directly correlated with a slew of injuries and a surprisingly poor home record – five wins, three draws and four losses. Meanwhile, Atalanta have the third best away record in the league, with seven wins, three draws and three losses.
Crucially, Atalanta have struggled against direct rivals this season, with four losses (Lazio, Napoli, Inter, Milan), two draws (Milan, Juventus) and two wins (Roma, Lazio). Not surprisingly, the two victories were both away from home.
Injuries/Suspensions
Luciano Spalletti will be without Giacomo Raspadori, who continues to recover from a thigh injury. Hirving Lozano is also expected to miss the match after suffering a muscle resentment in training. Meanwhile, Kim Min-jae remains one yellow card away from a one-match suspension.
For Atalanta, Gianpiero Gasperini recovered a number of players ahead of this match. Giorgio Scalvini (ankle), Jose Palomino (thigh), Davide Zappacosta (thigh) and Duvan Zapata (hamstring) have all been included in Atalanta’s squad. Hans Hateboer is out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL, while Teun Koopmeiners will miss the match after suffering a thigh injury against Udinese.
Probable Formations
Manager’s Comments
Luciano Spalletti:
“They are a great team coached by a great man like Gasperini. For many years they have earned a lot with respect to football, both in terms of finances and results. This highlights the quality of his work. Then there are characteristics like team chemistry, clearly visible and different from those we’ve played lately. They play differently. It will be an important match, but we are prepared, we don’t have to react. Reactions are only required when the previous matches didn’t do well. With Lazio we did nothing wrong in terms of attitude and preparation. Then it’s clear that we need to execute better. We just lacked the result, which we’ll be looking for tomorrow against a very strong team.”
Gianpiero Gasperini:
“It’s an important match, but I never say, “we have nothing to lose,” because it’s not true. We’re looking for points on all fields. He [Spalletti] did something extraordinary this year, he’ll certainly win the championship given the big margin. But that’s exactly why we have the opportunity to measure ourselves against the strongest. It’s a good match that matters for the standings, for us and for them.”
Previous Meetings
| November 5, 2022 | Atalanta BC | 1-2 | SSC Napoli |
| April 3, 2022 | Atalanta BC | 1-3 | SSC Napoli |
| December 4, 2021 | SSC Napoli | 2-3 | Atalanta BC |
| February 21, 2021 | Atalanta BC | 4-2 | SSC Napoli |
| February 10, 2021 (Coppa Italia) | Atalanta BC | 3-1 | SSC Napoli |
Match Officials
Head Official: Andrea Colombo
Assistants: Alessio Berti and Valerio Colarossi
Fourth Official: Daniele Doveri
VAR: Paolo Valeri and Rosario Abisso
