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Borre replaces suspended Kolo Muani in Eintracht's decider at Napoli

football15 March 2023 20:39| © AFP
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Rafael Borre © Getty Images

Rafael Borre starts up front for Eintracht Frankfurt in place of star striker Randal Kolo Muani as the Bundesliga outfit try to overturn a 2-0 deficit in their Champions League last 16 tie with Napoli.

France forward Kolo Muani has been in red-hot form for Eintracht since missing a huge chance for Les Bleus in the World Cup final, and his absence through suspension makes reaching the quarter-finals an even tougher task for Oliver Glasner's team.

Kolo Muani, who has scored eight goals in 11 matches in all competitions since the turn of the year, was sent off in the first leg last month.

Meanwhile Borre, 27, has featured mostly as a substitute and scored three times in all competitions this season.

Eintracht take on an almost full-strength Napoli at the Stadio Maradona after goalkeeper Alex Meret and starting centre-back Kim Min-jae recovered from knocks respectively suffered before and during the Serie A side's win over Atalanta at the weekend.

Italy international Matteo Politano gets the nod over Hirving Lozano on the right side of a front three which also features Serie A's leading scorer Victor Osimhen and breakout star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia were key to Italy's champions-elect winning the first leg and giving them a great chance of reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

The build-up to the match has been marred by clashes between Eintracht fans and police after supporters travelled from Germany despite no tickets in the away section being sold.

Starting line-ups:

Napoli (4-3-3)

Alex Meret; Giovanni di Lorenzo (capt), Amir Rrahmani, Kim Min-jae, Mario Rui; Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Stanislav Lobotka, Piotr Zielinski; Matteo Politano, Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

Coach: Luciano Spalletti (ITA)

Eintracht Frankfurt (3-4-2-1)

Kevin Trapp (capt); Tuta, Aurelio Buta, Evan N'Dicka; Ansgar Knauff, Djibril Sow, Sebastian Rode (capt), Christopher Lenz; Mario Goetze, Daichi Kamada; Rafael Borre

Coach: Oliver Glasner (AUT)

Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG)

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