Napoli Milan: Wanting to win vs believing you’ll win

Luciano Spalletti said Napoli had the chance to be “immortal”. Instead they were immobile, paralyzed by the moment. Napoli were overwhelmed against Milan on Sunday night. Not so much by the magnitude of the moment–both teams were level at the top of the table with 57 points–but by the realization that their opposition had risen to the occasion as well. They seemed almost surprised, and then disheartened, that Milan had also decided to give it their all in the game of the season. 

In his pre match press conference on Saturday Spalletti said Milan “can’t be more motivated than us.” Which (aside from being an obvious jinx) has not been the case this season when Napoli have met equally motivated sides in their biggest games of the season so far, notably Juventus in January and Barcelona in February. The players may be motivated but often appear to lack conviction. They don’t doubt their ability to get back into the game when they concede as much as they are certain they won’t. 

Luciano Spalletti during Napoli’s 1-0 home defeat to Milan.

Against Milan, Napoli exhibited a “next goal wins” mentality. Their opponent scores and the game ends. Except, the game doesn’t end when the other team scores. Milan scored in the 49th minute which meant Napoli still had 40 minutes, at home, to equalize and (gasp) even take the lead. 

Milan scored after Davide Calabria scuffed a shot from outside the box which Olivier Giroud pounced on. Giroud’s split second reaction time turned a poor shot from a teammate into a game winning goal. After the game Spalletti complimented the striker’s ability to capitalize on the moment. 

Victor Osimhen throws his arms in the air after Milan’s goal in the 49th minute.

“We conceded a goal in a scuffle where it could have been avoided. But it was the moment where we were playing less well than the rest of the game and they did a good job of building a lead with that.”

It seemed like Spalletti’s intent was to minimize the poor performance from Napoli. Instead, he condemned it even further. By his own admission Napoli weren’t outclassed, either by an individual or by Milan as a team. If you acknowledge that your opponent only scored because of a poor spell during the game then isn’t it fair to assume that if you get back to your best you could do the same. Then it just becomes a matter of getting back to your best. 

Which Napoli were unable to do. Once Milan scored they believed they would win. While Napoli seemed surprised the rossoneri felt that way at all. 

Stefano Pioli (left) and Luciano Spalletti (right) give their team’s instructions during Napoli Milan on Sunday night.

After the game, Milan’s manager, Stefano Pioli, highlighted his team’s perseverance.  

“The guys worked a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, in collaboration [with one another] and with the desire to always stay in the game.” 

Spalletti can say that his team was more motivated, that they were ready to “come to the pitch and based on what would happen not change their mood.” But a team can’t fake belief. Napoli may have been more motivated than Milan, as Spalletti alleged, but they weren’t more self assured. It’s one thing to want to win and another to know you will. 

Consider Milan’s record after tough losses this season. On Sept. 28 they lost 2-1 to Atletico Madrid. The next game they beat Atlanta in Bergamo 3-2. On Oct. 19 they lost 1-0 to Porto. Then won three in a row. On Nov. 20 they lost 4-3 to Fiorentina. Four days later they beat Atletico 1-0 in Madrid. Before the Napoli game Milan had drawn their last three matches, including a 2-2 draw to last place Salernitana. 

Meanwhile, Napoli lost two of their last three games, including their Europa League playoff to Barcelona and Sunday’s showdown against Milan. They had the two biggest games of the season in 11 days and lost both.

There were two moments on Sunday that perfectly encapsulated the difference in the two team’s mentalities:

• A Napoli freekick from the halfway line in the 93rd minute is intercepted by Ante Rebic, despite Napoli having four unmarked players. Ordinarily, a single lazy, aimless pass doesn’t mean a team is resigned to its fate. It does when it’s the last chance to equalize in the most important game of the season. 

Kalidou Koulibaly’s freekick in the 93rd minute could have lead to an attacking chance.

• From that intercepted pass, Milan win two (two!) separate fifty-fifty balls and break toward Napoli’s goal. Theo Hernandez squares a perfect ball to Alexis Saelemaekers who rushes his shot and elicits an incredible save from David Ospina. Saelemaekers looks absolutely distraught. At the end of the game he doesn’t even celebrate. 

Alexis Saelemaekers shortly after his missed opportunity in the 94th minute.

The two moments mirrored each other on the pitch and in each team’s attitudes. One team was satisfied with being flaccid when it required perseverance and the other was dissatisfied with its own complacency despite the finish line’s imminence. 

After the match Pioli said “we were in the game from the beginning to the end.” 

It’s hard to disagree with him. The game ended with in Napoli’s half despite Milan having the lead away from home.

The strange part is Napoli started out the game the better team. Victor Osimhen brought all his intensity to bear in his constant deep runs toward goal. Fabian Ruiz and Lorenzo Insigne showed their quality with several precise long balls, before fading as the game wore on.  

In the 51st minute Osimhen had a shot from just outside the box after a great combination with Giovanni Di Lorenzo. It seemed like it might be a sign of things to come. That Napoli would now bring more players closer to Osimhen to play more combinations with the Nigerian. Instead, he remained isolated. Even the human wrecking ball that is Victor Osimhen couldn’t break down the careful double teams of Pierre Kalulu and Fikayo Tomori.  

Pierre Kalulu marks Victor Osimhen.

In the 67th minute Napoli brought on Adam Ounas for Matteo Politano. Ounas immediately put his superb dribbling to good use. In 24 minutes of play he had four shot creating actions, completed two out of two dribbles, had four passes into the opposition box (the most for Napoli), and one genuinely jaw dropping move on the left wing where he beat two defenders and shot wide. Basically, he did a lot in a short time. 

His unpredictability and quality on the ball gave the impression he could decide the match. Then again, if your team is relying on Adam Ounas to decide the most important match in the title race you, probably, never actually were in the title race at all.