Napoli right-back Christian Maggio insists “the Europa League is important for us”, despite Maurizio Sarri’s words.
The Coach appeared to view tomorrow’s Last 32 tie with RB Leipzig as a distraction from the Scudetto race, fuming that the Lega Serie A hadn’t helped his side with scheduling.
Napoli right-back Christian Maggio insists “the Europa League is important for us”, despite Maurizio Sarri’s words.
The Coach appeared to view tomorrow’s Last 32 tie with RB Leipzig as a distraction from the Scudetto race, fuming that the Lega Serie A hadn’t helped his side with scheduling.
Only 6,000 tickets have been sold for the match, indicating an apathy on the part of the fans too, but the veteran defender insists he and his teammates will take the competition seriously.
“The Europa League is important for us,” Maggio insisted in the pre-match Press conference.
“We want to keep doing well like in the league and that has to start from tomorrow. We’re facing a team that’s been a revelation, they’re doing well in Germany and they have young players who want to show their worth.
“We also have a lot of desire though, with players who have had less space and want to show that they’re Napoli players.
“Can I be an example for them? I hope so, this competition is very important for me, putting my age aside I want to prove my worth and I hope to motivate and help those who play less.”
Napoli came back from a goal behind to thrash Lazio at the weekend, has that given them even more belief for the Scudetto race?
“There have been several occasions where we’ve understood this could be the right time, it’s stupid to deny that,” Maggio replied.
“We have the chance to achieve an incredible objective this year, but we haven’t achieved anything yet and there are a lot of games still to play.
“The desire is there, you’ve seen it, but the road is long. Now we think of Leipzig and getting through this round.”