Living a moment of anomaly, Salzburg have Napoli ahead on Thursday, March 7, in the clash for the first leg of the Round of 16 Europa League 2018/2019. The meeting will be held at the San Paolo stadium in Naples. The start is scheduled for 17h (Brasília time). The return match in Austria was scheduled for March 14.The place in the quarterfinals will be in the hands of the team that add more points in the two clashes. In case of a tie, goal balance and number of goals scored away from home serve as defining criteria. If there is not even a tiebreaker, a 30-minute extension – where the visitor has the advantage of a goalless draw – and a penalty shootout are the last features to indicate the winner of the duel.
Napoli
Napoli lost on Sunday, March 3, their unbeaten record at the San Paolo stadium. In the classic against Juventus, by the twenty-sixth round of the Italian Championship version 2018/2019, took 2 to 1.The damages caused by failure are limited to the field of self-esteem, since in terms of title dispute little thing has changed. Juventus, who led the tournament with great play, only raised the front they had against the Neapolitans from 13 to 16 points.With 56 points (17 wins, five draws and four losses), Napoli knew that the runners-up were their limit. And you’re doing well in this battle. The main stalker has changed. Milan took third place to beat Internazionale. But the difference between them is comfortable eight points with 12 days to go.Coach enough to allow coach Carlo Ancelotti to devote his main resources to the Europa League, where he made his debut at the knockout stage after being third in his Champions League group. It passed without any difficulty for the Zurich, of Switzerland, winning by 3 to 1 (outside) and 2 to 0 (house).The only limitations for him to set the lineups for this Thursday’s meeting are medical. They are still recovering from injury and should not be released to defend defenders Raul Albiol and Rui Mário.
Salzburg
The differing Austrian calendar, which suspends activities due to winter in early December and only resumes in February, makes Salzburg in a different pace of competitiveness. Perhaps this justifies the two defeats that the team suffered in an interval of less than two weeks.He was beaten on February 14 by Club Brugge in Belgium by 2 to 1 in his first official game of 2019. He managed to reverse the situation by scoring 4-0 in the return match. Then, on February 24, by the Austrian Championship, took 2 to 0 of Rapid Vienna. An unusual situation for a team that stayed nine months without being defeated.The fall in the Austrian Bundesliga also had no serious consequences. With two rounds remaining at the end of the qualifying round, Salzburg leads with 51 points (16 wins, three draws and one loss). They are 11 advantage over Linz. It is guaranteed in the final hex, where the results of the start phase against the ranked teams are loaded. Thus, he will leave with good advantage in the fight to obtain another national title.This also allows German coach Marco Rose to focus his efforts on the Europa League. His restrictions on scaling the team for Thursday’s game are for injured Marin Pongracic (defender), Zlatko Junozovic (midfielder), Jasper van der Werff (midfielder) and Fredrik Gulbrandsen (striker).
History of the matches Napoli vs Salzburg
This will be the first match involving the teams in the competition.
Football Prediction of the Day Napoli vs Salzburg
Although it seems to have a little more difficulty than one might expect to regain the pace after the winter break, Salzburg has managed to get the results it needs in the most important games. Thus, the prognosis in the draw against Napoli in the encounter for the round of first leg of the Europa League round of 2018/2019 edition appears as a good choice of guess.
Bet Tips: draw
Odds: 4.00
