Napoli travel to Monza for a match between two clubs who have very little left to play for.
AC Monza
Unbeaten in their last six matches, Monza are currently level with four other clubs (Fiorentina, Udinese, Bologna and Torino) on 46 points – already a successful campaign for the Serie A debutante. After five losses and a draw in his first six matches, Giovanni Stroppa was replaced by Raffaele Palladino. The Monza Primavera coach immediately won his first three matches, turning the tide for i biancorossi. Monza have been a difficult opponent for the Sette Sorelle, completing the double over Juventus while limiting Inter and Fiorentina to only one point each through two matches.
With their Matchday 33 draw to Roma, Monza guaranteed their salvation with five rounds remaining. That, in turn, triggered obligations to purchase Alessio Cragno, Pablo Mari, Matteo Pessina, Gianluca Caprari and ex-Napoli player Andrea Petagna. The five players, plus bonuses to players and staff, will cost Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani more than €44 million euros heading into the 2023/24 campaign.
SSC Napoli
Napoli will escape the week-long festivities as they travel north to Monza. With Roma fans traveling north to Bologna and Udinese fans heading to Florence, residents of Campania have been banned from attending the match.
Having secured the scudetto in Udine, the Partenopei have little left to play for. Victor Osimhen will be eager to find the back of the goal with Lautaro Martinez hot on his trail in the race for the Capocannoniere. The Argentinian’s goal against Sassuolo on Saturday was his sixth league goal in his last five matches.
Meanwhile, Luciano Spalletti, who is reportedly close to signing a 3-year contract extension at €4 million per season, will have his eye on Maurizio Sarri’s 91-point total from the 2017/18 campaign. With 83 points and four matches remaining, Napoli could achieve a club record of 95 points.
Injuries/Suspensions
Pablo Mari was removed in the 6th minute of Monza’s match against Torino, and is not expected to be fit for Sunday. Meanwhile, Andrea Colpani did not play against Torino due to a muscular injury. Armando Izzo will not be in the Monza squad after being sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in the calcioscommesse betting scandal.
For Napoli, Mario Rui continues to be sidelined by the injury to his right fibula. Meanwhile, Hirving Lozano suffered a grade 2 knee sprain against Fiorentina, and will likely be out for the balance of the season. Matteo Politano returned to the squad for the Fiorentina match but didn’t feature.
Probable Formations
Manager’s Comments
Raffaele Palladino
“The champions don’t stop. Kvara and Osimhen are two phenomena. We will try to limit them. Mister Spalletti, I respect him a lot. Even as a person, he fascinates me. You always need to study from the best and at the moment he is the best coach in Serie A.”
Luciano Spalletti
“[Monza are] an uncomfortable customer. They play beautiful football and Palladino will have an important future. He has managers who know how to see inside people’s heads. Someone like Galliani knows how to choose the right people. They have well-structured behavior and research for what they want to do. They want to play in the open field. They return to central defense to build from the back and then attack quickly. It is something that becomes difficult to detect and defend. There is the risk of the counterattack, which can cost running fatigue and difficulty because you risk conceding goals. It will be difficult to control the game. There is Petagna, who we all know what value he is as a player and as a man. We need to win the game because we want to go beyond the points total goal. We want to win from here until the end. Let’s see if we can.”
Previous Meetings
| August 21, 2022 | SSC Napoli | 4-0 | Away |
| January 30, 2000 | SSC Napoli | 2-2 | Away |
| September 5, 1999 | Home | 0-0 | SSC Napoli |
| May 30, 1999 | SSC Napoli | 1-2 | Away |
| January 10, 1999 | Home | 0-1 | SSC Napoli |
Match Officials
Head Official: Francesco Cosso
Assistants: Alessio Tolfo and Gaetano Massara
Fourth Official: Daniele Rutella
VAR: Francesco Fourneau and Maurizio Mariani
