Napoli and Juventus are both eyeing the Champions League silverware to hopefully restore European success back in Italy.
"?Italy's Serie A league hasn't been the most attractive league as of late due to Juventus winning the Scudetto title for five straight seasons. However, the only Italian team that has won a Champions League title in the 21st century is Inter Milan who claimed the title in 2010. For Italian football's sake, 2017 might turn out to be a successful one in the Champions League. Napoli, the southern Italians and Juventus, the from the North, will be eyeing to reach the European tournament final.
Napoli's story so far...
SSC Napoli have been a team who have experienced mixed fortunes so far this season. Their form in the Champions League and Serie A has had ups and downs because of injuries in the forward line. Although the Partenopei have recently found themselves in tremendous form and the issues with in attack look to be history.
The Neapolitans got off to an excellent start in the Champions League group stages by collecting six points from two games against Dynamo Kiev and Benfica. They even had the chance to qualify for the next round of the tournament when they played their third fixture against Besiktas. However, they did lose that vital game 3-2 and failed to set a all new record for qualifying only in the third game of the group stage.
Some patchy moments did arrive Napoli's way throughout the rest of the coarse and this was reflected in the odd performances where they were struggling to score goals. With their Polish star striker Arkadiusz Milik being injured, I Ciuciarelli lacked fire power upfront. Manager Muarizio Sarri did get the attacking rhythm flowing once again with Dries Mertens filling in the striker's position.
Napoli now face a hard task in the round of 16 in the Champions League with a rampant Spanish Real Madrid outfit. With Napoli topping group B and Real Madrid finishing second in group F, the Italians will hope to get some benefits by playing the second leg at home in the San Paolo Stadium. With Milik returning just in time for the 16th of February fixture in Spain, the Partenopei could hopefully escape Madrid with a positive result. The key for Napoli to beat this Spanish giant and advance to the next stage will be to play an excellent game in Italy for the second leg.
Juve's story so far...
Juventus are once again dominating domestically within the Serie A and producing emphatic statements to oppositions. The €90m signing of Gonzalo Higuain has definitely bolstered the squad and created more depth in attack.
The Bianconeri also made another terrific signing by purchasing Miralem Pjanic from AS Roma to strengthen the midfield area. The Bosnian playmaker has managed to create many golden opportunities for the strikers and is now a significant asset to the club. With the Old Lady making crucial signings at the beginning of the 2016/17 season, it shows that the Italian giants are aiming to win not only in the domestic league but even on the European stage.
Juventus achieved their objective in the Champions League by finally topping their group which in previous seasons have failed to do. They remained undefeated in the group, but didn't play to their full potential due to the unfortunate injuries that manager Massimiliano Allegri had to deal with.
Drawing Porto FC from Portugal seems like the ideal opponent for the Bianconeri in the round of 16. Unlike last season's opponents Bayern Munich, Juventus have avoided colossal clubs in this round. However, Porto are a decorated team who have had success in the Portuguese league and European stage. The key for Juventus to win in this fixture will be to not take the opponent lightly and to not get carried away.
Both Napoli and Juventus would like to achieve many great things in 2017 and are racing to determine which club can make their nation the proudest. An Italian club winning the Champions League would see the Serie A rise again and would end the Spanish reign.
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