Hojlund on Lukaku hug and Di Lorenzo eager for more Napoli trophies

Rasmus Hojlund reveals why he hugged Romelu Lukaku after scoring to beat AC Milan in the Supercoppa Italiana and hopes Napoli can ‘win a trophy’ on Monday, while Giovanni Di Lorenzo hails the team spirit.

The Partenopei booked their place in the Supercoppa Italiana Final thanks to the 2-0 victory over Milan, with Hojlund named Man of the Match.

It was somewhat inevitable, as his angled drive was palmed into the path of David Neres for the first goal, then he scored the second himself to beat Mike Maignan from a similar position.

“I’m happy, it’s been a few interesting days in Saudi Arabia, new culture and different experience,” Hojlund told Sport Mediaset in Riyadh.

“It’s a good opportunity for us to try to win a trophy, it’s a big match and we’re happy to go into the Final now.”

Lukaku was back on the Napoli bench for the first time since tearing a muscle in a pre-season friendly against Olympiacos.

Hojlund was only signed from Manchester United to replace Lukaku when it became clear how serious that injury was, but the strikers hope to play together eventually.

“Me and Rom have a very good relationship, he hugs me a lot, so that’s why I gave him a hug. I’ve said in multiple times that I hope to have him back, as we need as many top players and as many options as possible, because we want to go all the way in every competition. Now we have an opportunity to win a trophy.”

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The Final will be on Monday evening in Riyadh against either Bologna or Inter, as those two teams face off in the other semi-final tomorrow night.

“It’s the same for me. It’s a Final, so anything can happen,” concluded Hojlund.

Napoli captain Di Lorenzo was by his side during the post-match interview and defended the team’s record so far this term.

“Aside from a few hiccups, Napoli have always been up for it this season. We showed real spirit to help each other out, especially in those moments during the match when we cannot be dominant,” assured Di Lorenzo.

“I feel this was a very good performance, we knew that we had to defend as a unit and we did it well. We were aggressive when we needed to be, and on Monday we’ll play the Final.

“Now we’ll see tomorrow night who our opponents will be, and we’ll try to win.”