Luciano Spalletti insists ‘it would be ridiculous’ not to admit Napoli are in the Scudetto race, while a packed stadium can be a ‘superhero cape’ for the team against Fiorentina.
It kicks off on Sunday at 14.00 UK time (13.00 GMT).
The Partenopei are just one point off leaders Milan, while Inter are four points adrift with a game in hand.
“We must focus on our possibilities and what awaits us in the remaining weeks of the season,” said the coach in his press conference.
“It would be ridiculous at this point not to admit that it’s us, Milan, Inter and Juventus in the title race. We’ll have it out between ourselves, but dealing with the pressure is simple because we know the professionals we are working with now.
“If we are here, despite everything we’ve been through, it means the squad is reliable. If we beat Atalanta despite missing several big players, that means something. Now we all want to have a go and we’ll prove that tomorrow.”
Napoli have a better record on their travels than at home, which prompts some concerns ahead of the Fiorentina visit to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
“Our defeats have only been down to our attempts to play the football we want, only some incidents go against us. We’ve lost some games without a clear shot on target against us.
“Having a full stadium is the element we were missing and if we have difficulties during the match, we can use the crowd like a cape that turns you into a superhero.
“Resilience makes the difference, we must try to win these remaining seven games. You can win a Scudetto or not, all we can do is try, and nobody can call this a failure, because we started out with a Champions League spot as our objective.
“Having said that, our players know what they want and we’ll see if it’s possible.”
Fiorentina sold Dusan Vlahovic to Juventus in January, but are still doing very well and are 20 points better off than at this stage last season.
“The club worked well on the transfer market and chose a fine coach in Vincenzo Italiano, who deserves credit. It’s a dangerous fixture, as Fiorentina play a modern football, they come and attack you, play with pace and a high press.”
There were concerns during the week that Victor Osimhen had picked up a muscular problem in training, having been suspended for the trip to Atalanta.
“Osimhen just stopped as a precaution, he is fine. I ask the media not to push him too much, though, because he needs to work more within the team dynamic and not outside of it.
“At the same time, not having him against Atalanta showed just how good the rest of the squad is.”
There was another injury scare today, as Amir Rrahmani did not take part in training.
🎙#Spalletti “@victorosimhen9 sta bene. Abbiamo preso le precauzioni in settimana, domani ci sarà. Avere Victor è importante ma non averlo ci aiutato ancora una volta a capire la qualità della rosa a disposizione”#NapoliFiorentina
— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) April 9, 2022