Rafa has developed a reputation throughout his coaching career for being a cup specialist, something he will need his players to live up for the Europa League.
Although he won two La Liga titles with Valencia in the 2000s, Benitez has found greater success in cup competitions and his teams have triumphed in major finals on 10 occasions.
A couple of those successes came in the UEFA Cup/Europa League when Benitez coached Valencia in 2003-04 and also when he was interim manager of Chelsea in 2012-13.
His current side Napoli will travel to Turkey on Thursday night to play against Trabzonspor in the Round of 32 in the Europa League, but emulating those previous successes will not be an easy task.
Consistency has been issue for the Partenopei this season and Benitez usually tinkers with his starting line-up. One week they can be sublime and on another they can be sluggish.
Defensively Napoli have had issues this season. The defence has proven too open when they have had to implement a high defensive line, leaving goalkeeper Rafael more vulnerable.
Rafael has himself also proven to be a liability in goal. He misread a long pass against Athletic Club in August last year which resulted in a goal, Udinese striker Cyril Thereau dribbled around him in Serie A matchday 22 and Achraf Lazaar scored for Palermo on Saturday after Rafael failed to control his bouncing shot.
The holding midfielder roles are not occupied by any outstanding performers either, as neither Gokhan Inler, Jorginho, David Lopez or Walter Gargano have been able to keep a regular spot in the starting 11.
Benitez’s key attacking players have also been underachieving lately.
Jose Callejon has only scored one goal in the last 13 league games, Gonzalo Higuain is not living up to expectations despite scoring 18 goals in all competitions so far and Napoli captain Marek Hamsik has struggled for form.
Despite these issues, not all is lost for Napoli because in true Benitez fashion they have performed better in cup competitions.
The Neapolitans topped Group I in the Europa League by winning four matches and scoring 11 goals. They are also in the Coppa Italia semi-finals and could defend their title, as well as having already won the Supercoppa Italiana.
Although there are some key players out of form for Napoli, Manolo Gabbiadini has been saving the Partenopei’s blushes in recent weeks. The new signing from Sampdoria has scored three goals in five Serie A games for Napoli so far.
When Napoli play in the Europa League, Higuain and Hamsik’s form are not as much of a concern as it would be in Serie A, and the likes of Dries Mertens, Duvan Zapata and Jonathan De Guzman have chipped in with goals. Adding Gabbiadini also means that Benitez has another attacking threat up his sleeve for this competition.
The Spanish tactician has to use his experience and intuition if Napoli are to atone for last season’s elimination by Portuguese giants Porto. A tight defence is required and the attack needs to take their chances regardless of who the opposition is.
Benitez knows how to win cup tournaments but he needs a few things to go his way to succeed with Napoli in the Europa League.
Follow Vito Doria on Twitter: @VitoCDoria
