Benitez: Napoli are still behind Roma and Juventus
Benitez spoke after after Saturday’s 2-0 friendly victory at the San Paolo against Greek side PAOK, the first of three warm-up matches before the Azzurri take on Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain in advance of their Champions League playoff tie which will conclude prior to the start of the Serie A season.
“Roma and Juventus start the season with an advantage and today [Saturday] we even saw a strong Inter who has constructed a young squad who play an intense style,” the Spanish technician told Sky Sport Italia.
“All three of those squads will be very difficult to beat and we cannot forget Fiorentina and Milan either.”
The friendly match marked a return to the San Paolo for a pair of players, Eduardo Vargas and Walter Gargano, both of whom have been loaned out the last two seasons and are now being evaluated to determine how well they can adapt to Benitez’s style of play.
“Vargas is a quality player and wants to integrate into the squad. He just returned to us last week after playing in the World Cup and has yet to find his form,” Benitez added.
The Chilean international set up Jose Callejon for the match’s first goal.
“Gargano always works hard and is an important player for us,” Benitez said of the Uruguayan who has spent the last two seasons on loan at Inter and Parma.
Captain Marek Hamsik had a difficult season last year as he started the campaign brightly but never recovered his form after suffering a foot injury, going nearly five months without scoring a goal.
“We’ve seen a return of Hamsik closer to what we are accustomed to as he’s demonstrating his quality and I can see he’s extremely focused and ready to take on the responsibility of leading the squad,” Benitez said of his Slovakian leader.