Rafa Benitez bitterly joked about Napoli’s defeat to Juventus and refereeing. “They taught me a phrase: ‘It can happen.’”
The Partenopei had beaten Juve on penalties in the Super Cup in Doha just three weeks ago, but fell 3-1 on their own turf in the Serie A clash.
Rafa Benitez bitterly joked about Napoli’s defeat to Juventus and refereeing. “They taught me a phrase: ‘It can happen.’”
The Partenopei had beaten Juve on penalties in the Super Cup in Doha just three weeks ago, but fell 3-1 on their own turf in the Serie A clash.
“We all know Juve are a very strong side, that is beyond doubt,” a visibly irritated Benitez told Sky Sport Italia.
“They taught me a phrase when facing Juventus: ‘It can happen.’ On the offside it is very difficult to tell, as Maggio is right behind Caceres, so it is very tough. It can happen.
“I say when the team recovered its intensity and got back into the game, we conceded that goal. It can happen.
“I 100 per cent believe the decisions were in good faith. Chiellini is offside and jumps, so he is interfering with play. Last season it was 15cm, this time it was millimetres.
“The Koulibaly goal that was disallowed – it can happen. Koulibaly jumped, the goalkeeper fell into him, it was Buffon’s momentum that took him towards the defender. It is not a foul.
“Juve are a very strong side and can win the Scudetto, but we are allowed to complain. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about refereeing decisions, especially after losing 3-1. I have the right to be angry at the way the game went, we can make all the comments and analysis we want, but in the end we still lost.
“There was another incident too, when Buffon picked up a back-pass from Chiellini. When the team works so hard, I don’t enjoy losing like this.”
Napoli are surely now out of the Scudetto race and fell one point behind Lazio in the fight for third.
“If we had won this match, then there would’ve been talk of the Scudetto. We did not win it. We have to give 100 per cent to reach their level and if something goes wrong, then we fall behind.
“The first half performance was a good level and the second was too until we conceded the second goal.”