Though the Europa League is often looked down upon, it is a competition that can still throw up some tremendous fixtures, and one such encounter is set to be played out in Naples on Thursday evening, when Napoli host Villarreal.
Walter Mazzarri has guided the Azzurri into second position in Serie A, and unbeaten at home since the middle of October, the Italian outfit will be confident of laying a strong foundation for the second leg of this encounter after only qualifying to this stage thanks to a win over Steaua at the San Paolo back in December.
The league is Napoli’s main objective for this campaign, and to that end they took a step towards leaders Milan and Saturday evening as they defeated Roma 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico. Edison Cavani caught the headlines at the weekend at the continued his strong form with a brace, and the 24-year-old will be the main threat to Villarreal in midweek should he be deployed.
“It's a high level game, and for them it will be game of the year, and so the game will be even more interesting,” Mazzarri explained to the media. “We are moving forward and we always getting better.
“It will be a fascinating duel and I want to see an important performance from my team.”
Napoli’s side are greener than their guests when it comes to European competition, and though they are underdogs to progress, a good performance Campania on Thursday could be enough to turn the tables going into the second leg.
Hurt By Injuries
Recent weeks have seen a slip in the standards of the Yellow Submarine. Right up until the end of January, they still commanded a strong third position in the Primera Division, even if Real Madrid and Barcelona had worked themselves out of sight. Back-to-back 1-0 losses against Levante and Deportivo La Coruna have served to shock the east coast club, who will try to bounce back in Europe.
Head coach Juan Carlos Garrido was disappointed with the tame nature of his side’s display in Galicia last weekend and wants better on Thursday.
“In the match we have worked hard, but this defeat hurts, and we must now react quickly both in Europe and in La Liga,” he explained. “We need to give maximum performance, when we play so many games with such intensity it is normal to have these problems with injuries, and we have accumulated many. This affects the performance of the team.”
With pundits salivating over the prospect of an open and entertaining encounter in midweek, exciting attacking midfielder Santi Cazorla has stated he feels the same. “It is a very nice game for everyone; for our opponents and the fans. We know many of their players like [Marek] Hamsik or [Edinson] Cavani, and we know that they are very dangerous. They are second in Italy, which means we know that they are doing very well.
“Right now, we are only thinking of the Europa League. It is an important game for us because we have had two games without a win. There is no need to panic, and there is no talk of crisis.”
Away from home, Villarreal tend not to hit their best form, so keeping the match close ahead of the second leg must be their target.
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