Milan-Napoli with shots from… the bench: when the match is resolved whoever takes over

When they see the slate suddenly light up, Pioli and Mazzarri rub their hands. One of the key moments of the match is when the team manager announces the two numbers that will take turns. It usually brings good luck to both of you.

challenge within the challenge

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Milan-Napoli is a challenge within a challenge, especially when it comes to substitutions. The two most prolific benches in the championship will compete on Sunday. On one side the Pioli gang, with Jovic in the lead, on the other Mazzarri’s boys, with eight substitute scorers. Milan leads the table with ten. The latest comes from Serbia and has saved the Rossoneri coach on several occasions, from Salerno to Frosinone, passing through Udine. Luka Jovic is the frontman of this challenge. He scored four goals as a substitute, three of which were decisive.

with pegs

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The Rossoneri collected nine points thanks to the bench. The first substitute to sting was Noah Okafor, who scored in Milan-Lazio 2-0 at the end of September. The Swiss scored the last goal a few minutes from the end, closing the match after Pulisic’s flash in the 60th minute. It is irrelevant for the purposes of “gaining points”, essential for closing the accounts. The first decisive ring dates back to Genoa-Milan 0-1, the match in which Giroud ended up in goal in place of Maignan. Decisive goal by Pulisic, who replaced Chukwueze at the end of the first half. The American is followed by the first of Jovic’s four goals. Insignificant against Atalanta (3-2), decisive against Salernitana (2-2), Udinese (2-3) and Frosinone (2-3). The Serbian, assisted by Okafor, brought seven more points. The special ranking ends with the goals of Okafor and Simic in Milan-Monza (3-0) and that of Chaka Traorè against Empoli (3-0). The score says 9 points more. All thanks to ten markings.

with mazzarri

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Napoli follows with eight goals and six points more in the standings. In reality, there were nine players who scored, but in the last round, instead of rewarding Ngonge, the league awarded the own goal to Dawidowicz. The first to sting were Politano and Raspadori in Genoa-Napoli 2-2. One more point in the standings. Then there were Simeone’s inconsequential performance in Napoli-Udinese 4-1 and the three decisive slaps from Osimhen, Politano and Gaetano in Lecce-Napoli 0-4. Finally, before flying to Leipzig, Elmas scored a couple of goals against Salernitana and Napoli starting from the bench. Against Atalanta he was decisive in the 2-1 success. Who knows if Milan-Napoli will be decided in this way.