On Sunday, Sassuolo, now in their second season in Serie A did what they had failed to do in their last three meetings with Inter. Not only were the Neroverdi finally able to score against the Nerazzurri but also defeated them 3-1, meaning that Eusebio Di Francesco's side are now ahead of Roberto Mancini's troops in the league table.
Inter, having signed both Xherdan Shaqiri and Lukas Podolski in an attempt to secure European football for next season will have quite a bit of work to do to start working their way back up the league table. However, for now, that will have to wait as they will take on Napoli as they battle to see who will face Lazio in the semi-finals of this year's Coppa Italia after powering past Sampdoria 2-0 in their last fixture.
Meanwhile, the Partenopei are steadily working to catch second-placed Roma, who after suffering draw upon draw have slipped to seven points behind Juventus. A scrappy win over Chievo has moved Rafa Benitez's men to within four points and an automatic Champions League spot rather than potentially having to go through a play-off if they finish in third.
However, as they seek to defend their Coppa Italia title, they had to work hard to see off a determined Udinese side who was not going down without a fight. After 120 minutes and a 2-2 draw, interestingly similar to how they dealt with Juventus in the Supercoppa Italiana, the reigning title holders were able to emerge victorious after a tough 5-4 spot-kick shootout.
With both teams still in the Europa League, the Coppa Italia could represent another chance at some domestic silverware, especially given that the Scudetto race is increasingly looking like it's already a foregone conclusion.
It will be interesting to see if this match is decided within regulation time, or whether it will be concluded with yet another tense penalty shoot-out. Fans and Serie A neutrals will definitely want to keep an eye on this upcoming clash.
Napoli vs Inter Milan team sheets
Napoli's lineup: Andujar; Koulibaly, Albiol, Britos, Strinic; Gargano, David Lopez; Callejon, Hamsik, De Guzman; Higuain
Inter Milan's lineup: Carrizo, Santon, Ranocchia, Juan, Nagatomo, Brozovic, Medel, Shaqiri, Hernanes, Puscas, Icardi
Napoli's subs: Rafael, Colombo, Jorginho, Maggio, Mertens, Gabbiadini, Ghoulam, Uvini, Inler, Duvan Zapata.
Inter Milan's subs: Handanovic, Berni, Palacio, Kovacic, Podolski, Guarin, Vidic, Kuzmanovic, Obi, Dodò, Donkor.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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