Rafa Benitez assured Napoli “are looking for the victory” away to Sparta Prague tomorrow, but has injury concerns.
It kicks off on Thursday at 18.00 GMT in Prague, where the two teams are joint top of their Europa League group on nine points, followed by Young Boys on six.
“Sparta Prague work well when going forward and that is why Lafata above all scores plenty of goals on home turf,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
Rafa Benitez assured Napoli “are looking for the victory” away to Sparta Prague tomorrow, but has injury concerns.
It kicks off on Thursday at 18.00 GMT in Prague, where the two teams are joint top of their Europa League group on nine points, followed by Young Boys on six.
“Sparta Prague work well when going forward and that is why Lafata above all scores plenty of goals on home turf,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
“We are here looking for the victory. I came here before with Chelsea and I know it is not easy, but that is our objective.
“We have respect for Sparta Prague, but also awareness of our own qualities. We know that we are strong and that we can win tomorrow.”
Napoli are still on a strong unbeaten run, but threw away a 2-0 lead on Sunday to draw 3-3 with Cagliari in Serie A.
“I was angry for the last hour of that Cagliari game, as we did not control the tempo and failed to finish it off.
“We lacked intensity when defending and concentration in some moments. When 2-0 up we underestimated the danger and therefore have to improve in terms of mentality.
“However, now we must look forward and focus on where we are improving.”
As usual, Benitez is prepared to rotate his squad for the Europa League fixture.
“The break for international duty wasn’t really a break at all, considering how many players were off with their teams. Strength in depth is fundamental for having different options.
“I haven’t decided the line-up yet. I have to evaluate a few situations, such as for example Jonathan de Guzman who is not 100 per cent fit.”
Lorenzo Insigne is out for five months with knee ligament damage, while Dries Mertens is still sidelined after being knocked out while playing for Belgium.
“We hope to have Mertens back as soon as possible. He will be useful when rotating the squad considering all the fixtures we have coming up.”