Napoli coach Rafa Benitez has stressed the importance of coming home with a win when the Azzurri face Sparta Prague at the Generali Arena in their penultimate group stage game of the Europa League on Thursday night.
The two sides are level on nine points in Group I ahead of Switzerland’s Young Boys who have six, with the Czech side having a marginally better goal difference than their Italian counterparts.
“Sparta Prague are a strong team at home with [David] Lafata one of their most dangerous players, but we have come here with the intention of winning,” Benitez stated at his pre-match press conference.
“I have visited here with Chelsea before and I know that it won’t be easy, but despite having respect for the home side, we are aware of our own qualities and we have it in us to come away with three points.
“The draw with Cagliari? I was not angry about the game but we lost our concentration when 2-0 up and failed to see out the game in the last half an hour, and therefore we must improve our mentality.
“The international break wasn’t a break at all with so many players travelling and playing, and with eight games so close to one another, changes aren’t something unusual as is with the case with Jonathan de Guzman who is not at 100 percent fit.
“Dries Mertens trained a bit today but is lacking match fitness and we will have to wait and see how much he can contribute tomorrow.”
