Martin Lange, editing by Yanis Darras / Photo credit: Francesco Pecoraro / GETTY IMAGES EUROPE / Getty Images via AFP 11:15am, April 18, 2023
After 33 years of drift, the Neapolitans shine again on the Italian football scene. Better, they face this Tuesday night AC Milan in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. A godsend for this club which experienced great difficulties at the beginning of the century.It is a 100% Italian quarter-final that spectators of the Champions League will be able to admire this Tuesday evening. For the occasion, Napoli receives AC Milan and intends to crush its rival. It must be said that the Neapolitan team shines this season, having become leader of Serie A (the equivalent of Ligue 1 in Italy), ending 33 years of famine after the prosperous years with the Argentine player Maradona.
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A long crossing of the desert that begins with the positive control to cocaine of the latter, in 1990. Quickly, the club is relegated, then bankruptcy. In 2004, the club started from scratch with a film producer, Aurelio De Laurentiis, at the helm. Little by little, the team returned to the front of the stage and this season, Luciano Spalletti's men crushed the Serie A, ranking first, almost 14 points ahead of Lazio Roma, second in the table.
"We've been waiting for this since 1990"
"Certainly, in the league, there is a little let go, but the title is already almost assured. We've been waiting for this since 1990," said Marc Libbra, a consultant for Europe 1 sport. And on the European stage, Napoli can reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time in their history. For that, they will have to beat AC Milan tonight in a Maradona stadium that promises to be boiling.