Spaletti: “They are Barcelona without Messi, but they are on their way back”

“They are Barcelona without Messi, but they are on the way to being that team again, they have very talented players. In order to win, we will have to be aggressive “, he pointed out in the previous press conference before the return of the round of 16 of the Europa League between the two teams.

The Napoli coach believes that there is no favorite team for this Thursday’s clash, but that if they are aggressive they can win, although he sees the match as “very difficult”.

“There is no favorite. Both sides want to win before an overtime. He who does not fight cannot win. You have to go out and make decisions. The rival will want to command, but we have to show that we want to keep up the pace of the game “, he expressed.

“We have the strength to decide and we cannot expect them to propose little. It would be a sign of weakness on our part, “he said.

Missed opportunity

Naples missed the opportunity to storm the lead on Monday after a draw with Cagliari, a relegated team, in Serie A.

“We have to take advantage of our opportunities. There will be differences with the development of the match against Cagliari, where we were not able to win the match. We are players who play more with the ball from the bottom than from the top “, he clarified.

The Italian team has a lot of casualties, especially in the midfield, but Spaletti was confident and assured that he will line up a “strong team” with Lorenzo Insigne as the starter.

“Politano, Osimhen, Fabián have recovered … Everything can happen in these matches, but we can line up a strong team. Insigne will come out from the start, a player with personality and quality to lead the game “, he stated.

“A fierce player”

Nigerian Victor Osimhen will be the biggest offensive threat of the ‘Neapolitans’. Spaletti praised the Nigerian: “Osimhen is a fierce player. It is not easy to follow because it is very fast. We will have to play with the short team because it has conditions that not everyone has.

The Argentine Diego Armando Maradona will be very present in this match between two teams in which he played. The coach believes that ‘el Pelusa’ will side with the ‘azzurri’

“It simply came to our notice then. We can be a team worthy of Maradona, who was always ready to applaud the good game because he was “used to playing it,” he said.

On the mental and physical wear and tear that players suffer from playing so many games, Spaletti was adamant: “This is modern football, tight schedules.”

“Everything would be easier if we had more players and we could rotate, but at the moment it’s not possible. The willpower of the footballers must be counted on, there is no time to recover. In this football, you have to react positively in every game “, he said.