Real Madrid are the defending Champions League winners. They’re on top of La Liga. They’re the team of Cristiano Ronaldo, of Luka Modric, of Sergio Ramos, of Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema. They’re a team that many in Europe fear — but apparently not a team that Napoli fears.
Real Madrid vs. Napoli lineups: Confident Napoli bring attacking spirit
A heavily attacking lineup is coming to face Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images
The Italian team has named a very attacking lineup, with manager Maurizio Sarri leaving his more defensive midfielders on the bench. Amadou Diawara and Piotr Zielinski help make Napoli a lot more aggressive and of a mind to push forward, and we should expect to see them pushing forward hard and often once the whistle blows.
Real Madrid, for their part, aren’t making any special adjustments to their squad for Napoli. They made one change to their squad from the weekend, with defender Nacho heading to the bench and James Rodriguez stepping into the attack. That change does herald a shift back from the 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3, but that’s a better and more comfortable shape for Real Madrid against an opponent like Napoli anyways.
Real Madrid: Keylor Navas; Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro; Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, James Rodriguez
Napoli: Pepe Reina; Elseid Hysaj, Raul Albiol, Kalidou Koulibaly, Faouzi Ghoulam; Piotr Zielinski, Amadou Diawara, Marek Hamsik; Jose Callejon, Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne
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