Rafa Benitez has outlined his respect for Barcelona, but says there still remains a distance between them and Napoli.
The Partenopei are in Geneva this week for tomorrow’s friendly with the Catalan giants, which will see former Real Madrid youth Coach Benitez up against an old rival.
“I have always had respect for them, they are very strong, even though I have spent many years at Real Madrid,” Benitez has told reporters today.
Rafa Benitez has outlined his respect for Barcelona, but says there still remains a distance between them and Napoli.
The Partenopei are in Geneva this week for tomorrow’s friendly with the Catalan giants, which will see former Real Madrid youth Coach Benitez up against an old rival.
“I have always had respect for them, they are very strong, even though I have spent many years at Real Madrid,” Benitez has told reporters today.
“I have faced many challenges against them at youth level. My first game in La Liga was against Barcelona. They have quality and a philosophy of play. This has made the difference for them.
“Can Napoli reach Barcelona’s level? I say again, the budget is important and they are at around €500m. The path we are on is to have a correct budget, to improve it every year, but the gap is there.
“Having a stadium for 100,000 people also brings in money, in addition to advertising.
“Napoli are on the right track, but we are still a distance behind.”
“What can we expect from the game? Even for them it will be difficult, as they have many international players.
“Federico Fernandez joins us today, we are without three or four regulars, as are they, and it will be important to demonstrate our idea of play, but it is still a friendly.
“It is important to see something important, in view of August 19.”
That is when Napoli could play the first leg of their Champions League Play-off tie, which is where discussion then focused on.
“We are training very well, but if Higuain and Fernandez have just arrived then we need to assess their condition.
“Michu, Duvan and Pandev will have to work even more, we are still a week away to see where we are, because we are without three or four from our usual XI…
“If a player arrives now, is it a rush to include them? Yes, but we must provide a list this week. We have to be realistic, the group that is here 99 per cent will be the Champions League list.
“Higuain then? It depends on him, he has arrived with desire. He worked fine yesterday, he is physically fit, but we will have to look at him on the field.
“With his quality he can make a difference even at 80 per cent.”
Higuain is to be supported in attack this season by Michu.
“He had some problems last year, he could not play, after six weeks of vacation it is also not easy, but he is training well.
“He is adapting well, he is a different player to those we already have.”