Following their 2-1 defeat against Empoli on Wednesday night, Napoli have been warned by coach Carlo Ancelotti to shape up or face shipping out of the Europa League.
A disjointed and makeshift Partenopei side never quite going, despite an impressive display from Piotr Zielinski, and were beaten 2-1 thanks to goals from Diego Farias and Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
Pulling no punches afterwards, the man in charge admitted that his side were deservedly beaten and could lose against Arsenal in Europe if they replicate that kind of display.
“We were off the pace from the first minute until the last and were second best. We deserved to lose this game,” Ancelotti told DAZN.
“The next game against Genoa is one we must prepare properly for so that we are ready for the game against Arsenal because in this game we were unfocused, inattentive and we didn’t follow our plan.
“We just have to roll up our sleeves now and look ahead, there isn’t much else to say.”
However, the ex-Chelsea tactician was adamant that the defence cannot be blamed for the defeat in Tuscany and that the entire group must shoulder the responsibility.
“This is not a defensive problem, it was a subdued performance in general from everyone,” Ancelotti concluded.
