Luciano Spalletti thought ‘everything was going wrong’ for Napoli after conceding two Leicester City goals, but the 3-2 Europa League victory showed ‘character.’
The Partenopei needed a win to be sure of staying in the tournament and could even have won the group had Legia Warsaw not missed a stoppage-time penalty against Spartak Moscow.
They fumbled a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2, but eventually beat Leicester City 3-2 with Adam Ounas and an Eljif Elmas brace.
“When you concede two goals as cheaply as we did, evidently there are difficulties and it felt as if everything was going wrong for us,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.
“Instead, we reacted really well after the break, showing character. Those two goals, we didn’t have the right attitude when trying to just get the ball clear, but we fought back with soul.”
Both teams were decimated by injuries for Napoli, COVID-19 cases for Leicester, and Hirving Lozano was stretchered off during the first half with a broken tooth and suspected fractured nose.
“I am convinced that this performance and victory will give the players much more strength going forward to prove all their quality in future.”
Matteo Politano had been expected to start, but struggled with gastroenteritis last night, while Kostas Manolas made his comeback after a long injury lay-off.
Elmas filled the gaps in attack and admits even he isn’t sure what his natural role is.
“Elmas is first and foremost a splendid young man, but he can also adapt to any role. Where you are struggling, put him in and he’ll bring the goods,” explained Spalletti.
“He was disappointed by something at half-time that hadn’t gone right, so I told him that if he scored, I’d fling myself to the ground in celebration. I held on until the final whistle, but then I did it!”
— Out Of Context Napoli (@NoContextNapoli) December 9, 2021