After progressing past Wolfsburg, Rafa will spend the rest of the season leading his Neapolitan side down two separate but similar paths, each less known than the other.
Napoli’s Europa League first leg against Wolfsburg showcased the very best of what Napoli are capable of. They surged ahead and kept going and going throughout.
In their relentlessness, it was reminiscent of the victory against Trabzonspor earlier in the competition, but the German side are far higher quality of opposition.
Indeed when Napoli are capable of such performances, it is frustrating to see the opposite — the more ponderous approach Benitez often adopts — in Serie A.
With that in mind, it is no surprise to see Benitez’s Partenopei going well in Europe.
The Spaniard has earned himself a fine reputation for working his way through UEFA’s tournaments, winning three (one each with Valencia, Liverpool and Chelsea).
Benitez has knockout football in his blood, going right back to two consecutive Under-19 Spanish Cup wins when he first started at Real Madrid in the early 1990s. Indeed, he even won Napoli the Coppa Italia last season.
Throughout all these trophies, there is a theme.
Where knockout football obviously suits Benitez – plotting individual plans to negate certain aspects of teams or players – he seldom enjoys success in league football. Not since he left Valencia with a La Liga/UEFA Cup double in 2004 has a Benitez-coached side triumphed over the course of a full season. He has come close, notably with Liverpool, but always fallen short.
It is difficult to understand why; Benitez tweaks not just formations but team selections almost every match. Every move is considered, every switch deliberate.
Napoli’s squad has been regularly rotated with Gonzalo Higuain, even as perhaps the best striker in the Europa League, sitting out games when his coach felt he might be better deployed at a later date. He has repaid that faith in spades.
It took a while for the losing World Cup finalist’s season to reach full speed but after he found his rhythm he has been in fabulous form, both in Serie A and the Europa Leauge.
With seven goals in the latter competition to date, he stands a very good chance of being top scorer in the Europa League; it would take a superhuman effort from elsewhere to surpass him
Benitez’s rotational approach, then, has its advantages and disadvantages. By not fielding the better players in the squad, there is always the risk that the Partenopei won’t be able to win the ‘lesser’ games that are given lower priority. A case in point is the 2-0 defeat at Hellas Verona.
By the time Jose Callejon, Gonzalo Higuain and Manolo Gabbiadini entered the field, Napoli were already down by two Luca Toni goals. The cavalry were unable to turn it around, and the points were lost. Crucially, that game fell between the two legs of a Europa League tie against Dinamo Moscow.
Perhaps fighting on three separate fronts has hamstrung Napoli — with their run to the semi finals of the Coppa Italia added another few extra games to their already busy schedule.
Post-Europa League, Napoli’s respectable 1.80 points per game average dipped to 1.55; crucial defeats to the likes of Torino have cost the side heavily.
Yet that rotation can offer players the opportunity to retain their freshness, which in turn means that they can regain form at crucial times. Marek Hamsik’s season has been patchy at best, but he has surged back into the limelight with three goals in his last four games.
That improvement in form may be just in the nick of time for both Hamsik and Napoli. Games will continue to come thick and fast, with potentially three more Europa League ties to add to the Serie A games to come. Having their captain coming back to the top of his game may be just what the doctor ordered.
It promises to be an interesting month in Naples.
The domestic games to come include Empoli, Parma and Cesena; all sides that one would fancy Napoli to earn three points against as they look to close the gap on Lazio and Roma. It is perhaps a blessing that the semi finals of the Europa League come before Parma and Cesena respectively.
Should Benitez be able to guide his team through May retaining two possibilities of Champions League qualification; in both Serie A and the Europa League, he will have done tremendously. That Napoli’s last two matches, against Juventus and Lazio, sandwich the Europa League Final is extremely unfortunate however.
If it comes to that, Benitez will not complain — how could he?
He will just roll up his sleeves, position the markers on his tactics board, and try to get his side to play all three games like cup finals. It might end up being his most impressive achievement yet.
