Piotr Zielinski notes Eintracht Frankfurt ‘sat deeper than usual’ and Napoli were in complete control, but a 2-0 away result does not mean their Champions League quarter-final ticket is booked yet.
The Partenopei left the Deutsche Bank Park with a 2-0 first leg result in the Champions League Round of 16 thanks to goals from Victor Osimhen and Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
“We played our style of football. Eintracht sat a bit deeper than they usually do and allowed us space to push forward with our defenders too,” Zielinski told Sport Mediaset.
“The first half-hour was not easy, but then we took control and kept hold of it for the full match.”
There could’ve been more goals, as Kvicha Kvaratskhelia saw his penalty saved by Kevin Trapp, while Hirving Lozano hit the woodwork and some other opportunities were wasted after Randal Kolo Muani’s red card.
“You can get penalties wrong, but aside from that we could’ve scored another two or three goals and seal the tie. That was not the case and in Naples it will be another difficult match, but I am sure we’ll play well there too.”
Napoli are the runaway leaders of Serie A with a 15-point advantage over Inter, they have one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals, so could they really do the Double this season?
“We are doing truly exceptional things with the coach. I think we can do really well this season and perhaps celebrate some of the things we didn’t in previous years.”
Between Serie A and the Champions League, Napoli have lost only two games to Inter and Liverpool, while they crashed out of the Coppa Italia to Cremonese on a penalty shoot-out.