Fabio Liverani credits Lecce for his coaching award and a reinforced January squad, but it’s “almost impossible” to beat Napoli tomorrow.
It kicks off on Sunday at 14.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
“Gennaro Gattuso is doing a wonderful job of rebuilding the squad after a football earthquake,” said Liverani in his press conference.
Fabio Liverani credits Lecce for his coaching award and a reinforced January squad, but it’s “almost impossible” to beat Napoli tomorrow.
It kicks off on Sunday at 14.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
“Gennaro Gattuso is doing a wonderful job of rebuilding the squad after a football earthquake,” said Liverani in his press conference.
“Along with Inter, they were meant to be challenging Juventus for the Scudetto at the start of the season, but something went very wrong.
“It’s almost impossible for us to win at the Stadio San Paolo, but it’ll be a fantastic experience to play in front of 40,000 fans there.”
Lecce are without injured Khouma Babacar, Diego Farias and goalkeeper Gabriel, while Riccardo Saponara is available despite flu symptoms.
“We have a lot of options and some healthy competition for places in midfield, meaning we have different approaches that we can take. I like having those alternatives right to the last minute.
“It’s mainly about deciding between a midfield filter or someone focused more on passing, but some of that will also be dictated by Napoli’s choices.
“Our January transfer campaign went beyond all expectations. Antonin Barak has great technical quality and has his eye on a Euro 2020 call-up, Alessandro Deiola brought the muscle we needed and Saponara is fantastically creative.”
Liverani won the Panchina d’Argento this week, as Best Serie B Coach for the 2018-19 season.
“It’s an important award voted for by my colleagues and naturally it is shared with all of my staff. There are few coaches who are given the freedom I am at this club, because there is that Italian mentality, but Lecce immediately put me in the right conditions to do my work.
“We worked perfectly with the director of sport, winning our gambles and overcoming difficulties, but we must always raise the bar, because results make all the difference. I appreciate the fact that at Lecce, we are all working in the same direction.”
Lecce squad for Napoli: Vera, Petriccione, Lucioni, Paz, Donati, Mancosu, Lapadula, Falco, Shakhov, Rossettini, Deiola, Monterisi, Saponara, Vigorito, Calderoni, Rispoli, Maselli, Rimoli, Majer, Dell'Orco, Sava, Barak, Chiron