Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri criticized his players’ performance in their Europa League loss to Viktoria Plzen and warned them before their Serie A match against Sampdoria on Sunday.
The Partenopei were defeated 3-0 on Thursday and face Samp in a crucial league tilt as they fight for the Scudetto.
“I told my players not to feel pressure to score at all costs, but at times they cannot stay concentrated or isolate themselves from everything else. It felt like a friendly at one point and the San Paolo was half empty,” said Mazzarri.
“It’s evident that a coach, after a performance like the one we saw on Thursday, expects a totally different level in the next game. The important thing is to see a team that’s hungry, that attacks the opponent and fights for every ball.
“We have picked up many points so far, but just have to focus on doing as well as possible, game by game. We can’t think about what Juventus are doing ahead of us, but we should look over our shoulders because AC Milan and Lazio are closing in.”
Napoli lie second in the table and could close the gap at the top to within two points as Juve fell 1-0 to Roma on Saturday night.
