Napoli battle Wolfsburg in the first-leg of the Europa League quarter-finals at the Volkswagen Arena on Thursday at 21:05 CET and will look to bag a critical road goal to take back to the San Paolo for the second leg.
The Azzurri have already advanced further in the competition than last season’s European adventure when they bowed out to Porto in the previous round and will be looking to make their first semi-final appearance since the glory days of Diego Maradona when they won the competition back in 1989.
Coach Rafa Benitez’s men are fresh off defeating Fiorentina 3-0 on Sunday, a much needed victory which stopped a domestic slide of five winless matches that saw Napoli drop from challenging Roma for second place to eight points adrift of the automatic Champions League position behind both capital clubs.
Defense has been the Azzurri’s strong point in the Europa League where a stingy Napoli backline has allowed a paltry four goals in 10 matches including seven clean sheets.
The record is even more impressive when contrasted with the 37 goals leaked in from Serie A play; a mark which places Napoli 10th in the league and behind Chievo, Genoa and Empoli.
Wolfsburg are flying high losing just once in their last 23 competitive games, including nine straight victories at home.
Die Wolfe looked sluggish in a pair of Group H matches against Everton where they dropped both fixtures by a combined 6-1 scoreline to the blue Merseyside contingent. However, the club rebounded nicely by comprehensively defeating Inter in the previous round and keeping a pair of clean sheets against Sporting CP over their two-legged Round of 32 tie.
Coach Dieter Hecking’s side face a run of five matches in a fortnight and the congestion may cause the 50-year old to lengthen his bench as the club fight to maintain second place in the Bundesliga while pointing to a DFB-Pokal final berth if they can manage getting past semi-final opponent Arminia Bielefeld.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has sought to minimize distractions and close ranks amidst the club’s recent struggles by instituting a press silence and sending the club to training camp away from an upset fan base following the club’s lackluster Coppa Italia semi-final exit at the hands of Lazio.
Rumors of a Benitez exit at season’s end from the shadow of Vesuvius are all but confirmed and the best chance of a return to the Champions League rests upon a proud group to right the ship themselves and bring back a Europa League trophy.
Form Guide: Wolfsburg (L-W-W-D-W-W), Napoli (D-W-W-W-W-D)
Expected Starting XIs
Wolfsburg: Benaglio; Vieirinha, Naldo, Knoche, Rodriguez; Guilavogui, Arnold; Perisic, De Bruyne, Schurrle; Dost
Napoli: Andujar; Maggio, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Lopez, Inler; Callejon, Hamsik, Mertens; Higuain
