Venue: Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Date: Tuesday, 21 February
Kick-off: 1945 GMT
When we can’t buy ourselves a win in the Premier League – or even in the cup against Birmingham – an away tie against Napoli is just what we need, right? Ok, so we’d probably prefer Northampton but then it wouldn’t be the Champions League.
As it stands though, it is the last 16 of the Champions League and it is Napoli – a side that came out of a group with City, Villareal and Bayern in it and a side whose last game in Serie A saw them dispense with Fiorentina 3-0. No pressure then.
MANAGERS’ VIEWS
Napoli boss Walter Mazzarri, who serves a touchline ban tonight, is unsurprisingly confident of his own side’s ability to take us on tonight, saying “We are in better shape than Chelsea going into this game, but they have champions who are accustomed to playing a certain level of game. On Tuesday they know that they cannot make a mistake, so will become unified and I doubt we’ll be facing a team in crisis.”
The slightly less confident Andre Villas-Boas meanwhile, says of our opponents “They have a strong front three with (Marek) Hamsik, (Edinson) Cavani and (Ezequiel) Lavezzi. Cavani is an amazing player. They are a danger. Their strength is in the collective spirit. They have an inner belief in each other. It will be a massive challenge. Everyone saw what Napoli did in a group which put Manchester City out.”
SQUAD NEWS
Well, Napoli apparently have a full strength squad at their disposal, which unfortunately for us means their ‘Big Three’ of Marek Hamsik, Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi are all expected to start. Defender Hugo Campagnaro is doubtful though.
For Chelsea, Terry (knee) is still a doubt and faces a late decision although Ashley Cole (calf) could make it back.
TEAM
From: Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Cole, Bertrand, Romeu, Mikel, Essien, Ramires, Lampard, Mata, Malouda, Meireles, Drogba, Torres, Sturridge, Kalou, Turnbull.
PREDICTION
What can we say? Compared to us right now, their attack is like Barcelona to our Barnet, whilst their defence makes ours look about as tight as a brass’ knickers on a work night. Since it’s football and not rocket science, need I say more?
Blue is the colour
