Rafael Benitez refused to discuss Napoli’s position in the Scudetto race, saying the Partenopei are taking it one game at a time.
The San Paolo side endured a tough start to the season, but have hit form in recent weeks, rising to third in the table behind Roma and Juventus” data-scaytid=”3″>Juventus.
Rafael Benitez refused to discuss Napoli’s position in the Scudetto race, saying the Partenopei are taking it one game at a time.
The San Paolo side endured a tough start to the season, but have hit form in recent weeks, rising to third in the table behind Roma and Juventus.
The club’s resurgence has led many – including Juve Coach Massimiliano Allegri – to suggest that the Neopolitans are in the title race, but Coach Rafa Benitez would not be drawn on the issue.
“I don’t want to be boring, but I’m taking it one game at a time,” Benitez told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Otherwise you run the risk of not doing on the park what you say you’ll do off it and then everything becomes more difficult.
“At the moment we’re third, and looking ahead I’m not saying we can’t do more, but we have to do it week-by-week.”
The former Liverpool Coach did however point to Juventus as the benchmark for his side to strive for.
“A project isn’t dependent on a single result.
“It’s important to create a basis for improvement, and always have the opportunity to win by attracting better players year-on-year.
“Juve are an example: the structure of the club, the squad, the organisation at board level,where they have people people who have established themselves over the years.
“The players and the boardroom structure make all the difference.”
Napoli finished a distant third to the Bianconeri in last season’s Scudetto race, with Benitez’s men trailing Antonio Conte’s side by 24 points at the end of the campaign. The tactician however, does not believe this amounts to failure.
“The numbers must be analysed in context,” the Spaniard explained.
“Last year we got 10 away wins, 78 points and 104 goals; you can’t say we didn’t do well.
“Here in Italy there’s balance, because Milan, Inter and Lazio are there [competing with the leaders], whereas in Spain the difference is larger.
“After four years with [Walter] Mazzarri and the sale of [Edinson] Cavani, what he have done is like winning [the Scudetto].
“It’s very satisfying for me that I recently met some fans who told me ‘Coach, at last we’re having fun.’”