As Napoli were dealt another absentee blow in Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final defeat at Milan, Luciano Spalletti lamented Frank Anguissa’s “unfair” dismissal.
Ismael Bennacer’s goal in the 40th minute was the deciding factor in Milan’s 1-0 victory at San Siro, and the Napoli midfielder was sent off as a result after committing two bookable offences in the span of four second-half minutes.
With Anguissa’s suspension, Napoli’s roster of absentees, which already included injured striker Victor Osimhen and his replacement Giovanni Simeone, has grown.
The Serie A leaders have capable replacements going into next week’s return leg in Naples, but the Napoli coach was not impressed by referee Istvan Kovacs’ rulings.
“I have nothing to say, commenting after the matches is wasted time, there’s no turning back,” Spalletti told Sky Sport.
“At this point, every absence is a blow for us, but we have someone who replace him. It’s been like this for the whole season, otherwise we wouldn’t have the results we have managed.
“We trust the group, but it’s a pity we won’t have Anguissa because I think it’s unfair… It was planned to replace him, I was looking at who to bring on in the three substitutions, I was missing the third.
“The regret is that he played two more minutes while I decided. I’ll think about what I did, the referee won’t comment, [UEFA Referees’ Committee chairman Roberto] Rosetti will do it.
“From what I’ve seen, Anguissa gets a lot of ball… Let’s look at the yellow card for [Piotr] Zielinski and the one not given to [Rade] Krunic.”
Milan have caused Napoli issues twice in the space of 10 days, hammering the Partenopei 4-0 in Serie A before overcoming Spalletti’s side in Europe.
Stefano Pioli’s men are the only team to beat Napoli more than once this season, with two of the Partenopei’s five defeats coming against Milan.
The Rossoneri are also the only side to have stopped Napoli scoring in more than one match this term, while Milan have scored six goals this season against Spalletti’s side – twice as many as any other team.
Spalletti was still pleased with what his side offered, though, and hailed the efforts of Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, who made an impressive five saves.
He added: “We had a great attitude, I congratulate the team on how they tried to play the game, even outnumbered. And congratulations to Maignan.”
Milan have progressed from seven of their previous nine two-legged ties in the Champions League knockout stages after winning the first clash, while they have lost just one of 10 all-Italian match-ups in Europe.
Yet Napoli captain Di Lorenzo remains confident when Pioli’s men visit the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium for Tuesday’s second leg.
The Italy international told Amazon Prime Video: “We are a quality squad, to go through you have to win at home, we hope there will be a good atmosphere, as always this year.”
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