Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis was adamant that the club will build on their recent Scudetto success and try to win the Champions League in the coming seasons.
ADL felt as if the Partenopei were the strongest side in the competition this year, but were let down by referees ‘twice’, which he believes ultimately led to their exit at the quarter-final stage.
However, the opinion-dividing owner insisted that Napoli have been ahead of schedule with the targets he had set for the club when he took over the club in Serie C in 2004.
Speaking to CBS after the 1-1 draw with Udinese on Thursday, De Laurentiis told viewers: “When I arrived in Naples, I said in the first 10 years, I will bring you in Europe and I made (good on that promise) earlier than 10 years.
“And I said also in the second 10 years we will win the Scudetto and also that time was two years earlier, so it’s fine. Now we have begun a new era and we hope to win next year and the following year and the following year.
But, ultimately, leading the club to its first ever Champions League trophy remains the ultimate goal of the Napoli custodian.
Despite being tipped as dark horses to go all the way in the competition during the 2022-23 season, Napoli were eventually knocked out 2-1 on aggregate by Milan in an all-Italian quarter-final.
Still, De Laurentiis is confident that the Partenopei will be able to go even further in Europe’s most prestigious competition in the coming seasons.
He explained: “Right now, we must win the Champions because this year, I think we were the strongest in the Champions and just because the referee was not good twice, we are out. But that is soccer, that is UEFA , that is the world.
“We will try next year and the following year again.”
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