Walter Mazzarri feels Napoli “dominated” Inter and Ezequiel Lavezzi “can become the complete striker.”
Walter Mazzarri feels Napoli “dominated” Inter and Ezequiel Lavezzi “can become the complete striker.”
“We dominated the first half and forced Inter to focus only on defending themselves. By pushing them into their own half, obviously you need to then finish off the chances, which we did not do. In some ways, we played better than against Chelsea.
“Inter changed their system after the break and we did well to find the goal. I thought Hugo Campagnaro’s goal was onside, but looking at the replays the goalkeeper was in front, so it was offside.
“We were strong until we went down to 10 men and I had to make some changes.”
Mazzarri hailed his Napoli side, who are fresh from a string of victories in Serie A and the Champions League.
“I am in love with these lads. When we started this adventure, nobody would’ve thought we could achieve what we did.
“Lavezzi has made huge leaps forward and in recent years he did find the goal, but didn’t really get a run of them. He has matured and if he continues like this, then he can become a champion above many in the world. If he learns how to hit the net, then he’ll be the complete striker.”
The Coach chose Blerim Dzemaili as the replacement for suspended Marek Hamsik.
“Dzemaili was closer to Hamsik’s characteristics. I know we call them a trident, but Marek is a midfielder. Besides, with Inter’s physical strength in midfield, it was dangerous to have a more attacking player there. We made it three against three in there and stopped Inter going through the middle.
“Inler went through a period where he was not in good shape, mainly because he played so many games in a row, but he is now back on form and is the Gokhan we all knew.”