AC Milan take on Napoli at San Siro tonight hoping to win a second straight league game, and there will be a very interesting battle between two left wingers.
As Corriere della Sera (via PianetaMilan) writes this morning, Rafael Leao and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will compete once again. Both are endowed with class, talent and imagination: they know how to light up games and come up with winning plays.
They are very different in terms of characteristics, yet similar in terms of importance, so much so that they also became friends off the pitch after last year’s continuous duel in the league and the Champions League.
The many affinities between Leao and Kvaratskhelia start from their performances, for better or for worse. They were the driving force in their teams’ Scudetto year (2021-22 for Milan and 2022-23 for Napoli) and voted MVP of that season. In this, however, they haven’t been as consistent.
Three goals and six assists for the Portuguese, six goals and three assists for the Georgian: a decidedly lower pace than their respective standards.
Both, however, want to accelerate in this second part of the season, to regain a leading role both in Serie A and in the European competitions that Milan and Napoli are involved in, namely the Europa League and Champions League.
As per the paper, ‘half of Europe’ like Leao who will play on the left in a 4-2-3-1 tonight, with PSG in the lead when it comes to interested clubs.
Kvara, on the other hand, will play more centrally, almost as an attacking midfielder/second striker, in the Azzurri’s 3-5-1-1, close to the centre-forward.
Kvaratskehlia, the newspaper adds, has a contract until 30 June 2027, but the salary of €1.4m net per season must be adjusted as soon as possible because he, like Leao, is attracting a lot of interest.
