Football. ua presents the announcement of the central match of the first round of the Italian championship between Lazio and Napoli.

Despite the fact that the largest audience, if taken on a world scale, is secured by the Chievo-Juventus duel due to the debut in the "old lady" of the ever young Cristiano Ronaldo, the central match of the first round of the Serie A championship without the slightest doubt can be called a meeting at the Roman Stadio Olimpico between Lazio and Napoli.

Lazio - Napoli Saturday, August 18, 21:30. Rome, Stadio Olimpico. Referee - Luca Banti. Live broadcast on the channel Football 1 For Napoli, who stopped last season in a step away from the championship, and Lazio, who missed the ticket to the Champions League only in the last round, certainly want to start better in the season. And it can be argued that their desires converged in yet another - the reluctance to start a championship duel like their confrontation. On the one hand, of course, to beat a direct competitor for places in the top of the standings already at the start would be nice, but on the other, both Lazio and Napoli came to the fight clearly not in the ideal form.

In the last three control matches, the Romans lost to Arsenal (0: 2) and Borussia D (0: 1), but were able to take the upper hand over Spal (2: 0). Similar figures for the Neapolitans: defeat from Liverpool (0: 5), defeat from Wolfsburg (1: 3) and victory over Borussia D (3: 1).

And the coach Lazio Simone Inzaghi, and the new mentor Napoli Carlo Ancelotti work yet - no end. But if Inzaghi's advantage is that he does not need to make any revolutions, then Ancelotti, having far more experience than his metropolitan counterpart, began to change the system of Maurizio Sarri, who left Chelsea. To crush everything to the ground, and then to build his building in the wasteland of Papa Carlo, of course, did not, but on the spear he already constantly plays Milik (a more pronounced center forward than Mertens regularly scored in the case of Sarri), a position in the center of the field that was the fiefdom of Jorginho, took Hamshik, and in his place came Fabian Ruiz. Another problem - the position of the goalkeeper. Entering the role of the first number Meret broke his arm already in the second training, his potential understudy Carnesis clearly does not want more than to be just a reliable changer, and purchased from Arsenal just before the closing of the transfer window of Ospina, although included in the list of those who went to Rome, -took no time to get used to the new team.

Inzagi, Jr., the main problem of a different nature. Lucas Leyva, Lulich and Patrick so stormily finished last season that the current will begin, serving a disqualification. Another three Inzaghi wards are injured: Berisha, Lukaku and Murjah. The only line that has not been touched by injury and disqualification is an attack in which Immobil will continue to be supported by Luis Alberto and Milinkovich-Savic.

By the way, on the very Immobility in the games with Napoli, you should not really rely on. Neapolitan in origin managed to score a team from his hometown only once in nine matches, and it happened in the already distant 2012.

Interesting facts - In the last 38 matches of Serie A, Napoli lost only three times.

- Napoli does not miss in 8 of the last 10 away matches of the championship.

- In the last 3 matches against Lazio in all tournaments, Napoli scores at least 3 goals.

- Napoli won against Lazio 5 of the last 6 matches in Rome in all tournaments.

Approximate compositions Will not play: Lukas Leyva, Lulich, Patrick, Berisha, Lukaku, Murja - Meret, Ghulam, Younes.

Beginners Lazio: Proto (in, Olympiakos, St.. agent), Acherby (z, Sassuolo, 10 million euros), Mauricio (z, Legia, from the lease), Durmisi (з, Betis, 6,5), Jermoni (з, Perugia, from the lease), Filipini (з, Пиза , from the lease), Badel (n, Fiorentina, St.. agent), Berisha (n, RB Salzburg, 7,5), Cataldi (n, Benevento, from rent), Minala (n, Salernitana, from rent), Morrison (n, Atlas, from rent), Correa (n, Seville , 15), Kishna (n, Den Haag, from the lease), Oikladidis (n, Western Sydney Wanderers, from the lease), K. Lombardi (n, Benevento, from the lease), A. Rossi (n, Salernitan, from the lease).

Newcomers Napoli: Meret (in, Udinese, rent), Carnesis (in, Udinese, rental), Ospina (in, Arsenal, rent), Contini (in, Pontedera, from rent), Maksimovich (from Spartak M, from rent) , Luperto (from, Empoli, from the lease), Malcui (from Lille, 12 million euros), F. Ruiz (n, Betis, 30), Younes (n, Ajax, St.. agent), Verdi (n, Bologna, 25), Bifulco (n, Pro Vercelli, from the lease), Vinicius Morais (n, Real Queluz, 4).

Words by Simone Inzaghi, coach of Lazio:.

"We have a very interesting start: first Napoli, then Juventus ... Well, we are ready to start with the most dangerous rivals. In the past seasons our successes could sometimes be attributed to the fact that our competitors underestimated us, but now we no longer have to count on this. I'm very glad that Milinkovich-Savic, Immobile and Luis Alberto did not leave the team, without them it would be harder for us. We succeeded and the transfer campaign. With the arrival of Acherby, Badel, Correa and others, the team became stronger. I am pleased with the players who spent the last season on the lease, but now returned and deserved the right to compete for a place in the squad, for example, Cataldi and Rossi. It's a pity that we, for various reasons, will not be able to expose our optimal composition. It seems to me that the current Napoli will not be the same as last season. Carlo Ancelotti came to the team with his ideas and the team is changing. Well, we will try to take this into account ".

Carlo Ancelotti, coach of Napoli:.

"I believe that we are well prepared for the new season. During the transfer market, we retained those key players whom I asked the president not to sell, and strengthened the problematic positions.

We have not reached the full ideal teamwork yet. It will take time. How much exactly - I can not say. But I'm sure that we will start the season in such a way as to justify the expectations that the fans of the ".

forecast 2: 2 Follow the progress of the match you can on the text online broadcast to Football. ua.

Do you want to learn the main football news first? Subscribe to our channel in Telegram! You can also follow our website in Viber and Twitter.