Rafa Benitez will take his Napoli squad to Moscow on Thursday as they face Dinamo Moscow in the Round of 16 second leg in the Europa League.
Despite going 1-0 down to their visitors in Naples, the Partenopei battled back thanks in no small part to a Gonzalo Higuain hat trick. Higuain was one of a number of players rested for their match away at Hellas Verona on Monday night where they fell to a Luca Toni brace.
Club captain Marek Hamsik came back into the side after missing out of a starting place in Europe with Callejon, Jorginho and Maggio amongst the substitutes with Higuain. Hamsik will be hoping to be back in the line up to lead his team to the quarter finals whilst Juan Zuniga could make his first start since October.
Napoli will have to be wary though as they can be tricky opposition having not lost at home in any competition since October. The bonus for the Russians is that the away goal scored by Kevin Kuranyi in the first leg could be a huge advantage come the final reckoning of this tie.
Russian striking starlet Aleksandr Kokorin is also a danger. The number nine has netted 17 league goals this term. The man who turns 24 on the day of the second leg is already an integral part of the Russian national set up. Another danger to the Italians is former Marseille man Mathieu Valbuena whose trickery, assists and eye for a goal out of nowhere could hurt Benitez and his team.
Napoli have never won in Russia with Stanislav Cherchesov’s side winning eight of their Europa League matches this season. He will also have good memories of playing Napoli as he was part of the Spartak Moscow side that won 5-3 on penalties in a European Cup Second Round tie in 1990/91.
Form Guide: Dinamo Moscow (L-L-W-W-D-W), Napoli (L-W-D-D-L-W)
Expected Starting XIs
Dinamo Moscow: Gabulov; Kozlov; Samba; Hubocan; Zhirkov; Valbuena; Zobnin; Vainquer; Dzsudzsak; Kokorin, Kuranyi
Napoli: Andujar; Henrique; Albiol; Britos; Ghoulam; Jorginho; Inler; Callejon; Hamsik; Mertens; Higuain
