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AC Milan will not change their tactics or approach for the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal despite Serie A‘s top scorer Victor Osimhen returning for Napoli, manager Stefano Pioli said on Monday.
Ismael Bennacer gave Milan a 1-0 home win over runaway Serie A leaders Napoli in the first leg last Wednesday.
It was Milan’s second consecutive victory over Napoli after humiliating Luciano Spalletti’s side 4-0 away earlier this month. Nigerian Osimhen missed both matches with a thigh injury, but Spalletti promised after the first-leg loss his star striker would be back for the reverse fixture.
– Ogden: Napoli sorely missed Osimhen in UCL first leg
“He is such a powerful, impressive and decisive striker so we take his characteristics into account, but at the same time we have our own way of playing football and we won’t move away from that,” Pioli told reporters on Monday.
“We saw with previous Napoli games that a lot of it is about knowing the moment to slow down and speed up, and that is even more crucial with a player like Osimhen.”
Pioli said a one-goal advantage was not enough to provide security against an aggressive Napoli side who have not lost at home in their last 12 Champions League games.
“We only have a minimal advantage. We need to play our game as a team and I think control the ball very well when we have it. That will be an important element,” he said.
While Napoli will be without centre back Kim Min-jae, midfielder Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa and striker Giovanni Simeone, Pioli’s only injury concern surrounds France forward Olivier Giroud, who has been dealing with Achilles issues.
Napoli boss Spalletti brushed aside notions that his team was under any kind of pressure — having already made club history by reaching the quarterfinals — and said he thought the return of Osimhen would be cause for concern for Pioli and Milan.
“Milan play modern, attacking football with a high press, they thoroughly deserved to win the Scudetto last season and will come here to take the initiative. Having Osimhen to deal with will cause them worries too,” Spalletti said.
“We have a squad that allowed us to reach this stage, not just 11 players. Getting the right exercise in training is crucial too, otherwise you forget the movements and get out of practice, so they all contribute there too.”
Information from Reuters was used in this story.
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