Serie A: Napoli vs AC Milan

The second week of the Italian Serie A had a number of interesting games, with Juventus vs Lazio, Inter Milan vs Torino and Roma vs Atalanta all expected to be tight, hotly contested games. But the pick of the weekend was undoubtedly the game between Napoli and AC Milan, which saw Carlo Ancelotti come up against the side where he achieved his greatest triumphs. The identity of the man in the opposite dugout would also bring back fond memories for Ancelotti, as his midfield general at Milan, Gennaro Gattuso, took the reins of the Rossoneri. All this nostalgia provided the perfect setting for a rip-roaring game at the Stadio San Paolo, as the Partenopei came back from a two-goal deficit to win the game 3-2. It was an extremely interesting and fluid tactical battle, as we will show below.

Lineups

Both teams initially lined up in a 4-3-3, with Napoli captain Marek Hamsik playing as the deepest of the midfield trio in an attempt to fill the departed Jorginhos shoes, while Milan had the Argentinian Lucas Biglia as the holding player. There was also a start, as expected, for Gonzalo Higuain against his former club.

Biglia dictates play as Milan exploit Napolis midfield

Napoli under Ancelotti have looked quite similar to how they were set up by his predecessor Maurizio Sarri, as Ancelotti has sought to make minor adjustments rather than make wholesale changes. The Partenopei therefore started in the same 4-3-3 system as used before, but with Marek Hamsik asked to be the midfield controller. Ancelotti also asked his team to press high up the pitch; however, there was a disconnect between the front three and the rest of the side, meaning that while they pressed the Milan backline, the rest of the side dropped off, leaving oceans of space for the Milan midfield, and especially Lucas Biglia, to exploit.

The Arge