Dries Mertens claims he’d have been “just as happy” on the bench as Napoli beat Benfica 2-1 to reach the Champions League knockouts.
The little Belgian came on for Manolo Gabbiadini and within three minutes had assisted Jose Callejon before scoring the second himself.
“The team put in a great performance in a difficult arena,” Mertens told Mediaset Premium.
Dries Mertens claims he’d have been “just as happy” on the bench as Napoli beat Benfica 2-1 to reach the Champions League knockouts.
The little Belgian came on for Manolo Gabbiadini and within three minutes had assisted Jose Callejon before scoring the second himself.
“The team put in a great performance in a difficult arena,” Mertens told Mediaset Premium.
“I am very happy and would’ve been just as happy even if I hadn’t played, because I am happy for Napoli and the entire group.
“We were all very concentrated, even those who were on the bench. This side is doing very well and we’ve just been unlucky in recent games, but we can achieve great things.”
Both Napoli and Benfica qualified for the Round of 16 because Besiktas lost 6-0 to Dynamo Kiev after going down to nine men.
“I didn’t believe it when I saw that was the result, but I did think it’d be tough for Besiktas, because it’s very cold right now in Kiev.”