Rafa Benitez admits Napoli “lacked the desire to win” in their 2-0 Europa League defeat to Young Boys.
This result allowed the Swiss side to match the Partenopei at the top of their group along with Sparta Prague, who beat Slovan Bratislava 3-0 in a game suspended for a long period due to crowd trouble.
Rafa Benitez admits Napoli “lacked the desire to win” in their 2-0 Europa League defeat to Young Boys.
This result allowed the Swiss side to match the Partenopei at the top of their group along with Sparta Prague, who beat Slovan Bratislava 3-0 in a game suspended for a long period due to crowd trouble.
“We lacked defensive intensity when they had scoring opportunities and that is why we conceded,” Benitez said in a Press conference.
“I expected a different game. We controlled the match, but after the goal they clammed up. On the second goal we got the preventative marking wrong. This has happened in too many games now.
“In the first half we could’ve hurt them with our counter-attacks, but after going behind we lacked the intensity and pace to avoid their counters.”
Benitez and Gokhan Inler had said yesterday that Napoli needed a Neapolitan slang term for ‘grit’ in order to win this game.
“We lacked the desire to win the game a few times this season. We have to improve in that respect.
“Am I worried? No, many things that happened today need to be revised to improve. The intensity starts from the strikers, but often we lack it when defending and that allows our opponents to run on goal.”