Napoli coach Rafa Benitez believes his players and fans should be proud of the Azzurri’s performance after defeating Arsenal 2-0 on Wednesday even though it was not enough to progress through to the next round of the Champions League.
The victory was not enough to push the Partenopei through to the round of 16 in the competition, but the Spaniard is adamant that the squad is heading in the right direction.
“It is not easy to play at this level and with this intensity in every match but the squad did well, especially in the second half when we deserved to win,” he told Mediaset Premium.
“I would have liked to have scored earlier in order to press later on. It wasn’t easy to push as Arsenal are a squad that can punish you.
“We must be proud of what we have done. We are a squad that is growing and today we showed that we can play at certain levels even if we can improve on a few things.
“This is the right path. The sacrifices of this squad and all of the fans made the difference against a team like Arsenal.
“The match against Inter? After the Champions League and after this effort we must charge the squad once again. It will be a difficult match but it can be an important turning point in order to cancel out the feeling that we are missing something.
“Now the Europa League is the target? No, we must look to the championship as the Europa League is in February.”
Follow Adriano Boin on Twitter: @Boin44
