Benítez: "Our objective is to qualify"

The Spanish coach assures that his team is focused on Europe

05/11/2014sscnapoli.it/rafabenitez.com

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Rafa Benítez, SSC Napoli head coach, has reinforced his squad ́s intention of qualifying for the group stages of the UEFA Europa League in their usual pre-match press conference, and stated that they are focused on this competition and on the game against the Swiss squad. Napoli has the opportunity of getting back on track to qualify for the group stages, an important step for the team. The Spanish coach said: "we are focused on the game tomorrow against Young Boys, we want to focus on our objective, and that is qualifying for the next stage".

"We did not win the away game in Berna and I believe that we absolutely did not deserve to lose",  assured the coach of the 'azzurro' team, who added: "I do not agree at all with the criticisms I heard after Berna. We kept possession of the ball in the first half and we could have scored twice. The game was under control and later in the second half we committed a naïve error which we greatly paid for. It is an aspect we have to improve but I consider that the away game was not all completely negative".

The Spanish coach gave a brief analysis of tomorrow ́s game, concerning their rival he highlighted: "Young Boys is a great team that constantly moves the ball, but we are sure that we can beat them if we play as well as we know we can. We have to look for the victory, keep organised, and not lose perseverance. The motto "slowly but surely" that I have used before is useful because even if the game is in our favour, we can concede at any moment".

“Against Roma, we showed that we can maintain that balance, this will be necessary if we want to get far", explained the "azzurro" coach, and continued by adding: "I would like to remind everyone that we came from a run of not very positive results but always playing great games. We are the team that creates the most danger and I would like to recognise that we have faced very good goalkeepers who did their job very well. Despite this, the team has continued to play football in the same way, with a precise idea of play. Saturday ́s victory happened as a result of that winning mentality".

When asked about the usual rotations, Benítez once again explained the meaning of these with the same clarity: "the management of the squad is key to being competitive during the whole season. We don’t prepare for just one game, our objectives are seasonal and they are achieved by working throughout the whole season. I have 25 players in the squad and I would like each and every one of them to make maximum effort. Tomorrow, those that have enough confidence and can give one hundred percent on the pitch will play. The team that will step on the pitch tomorrow is the one which I consider most adequate for achieving the victory".

After Napoli ́ 2-0 victory against Roma, the Italian club seems to have no limits. Concerning this question put to him by the media, Benítez replied: "we speak everyday in the dressing room and we know perfectly well what we are capable of. We face every game with the absolute conviction that we can win. We are not afraid of any rival at the same time we always have maximum respect. Our ambition, our most important objective is to continue being competitive in all possible areas, and to achieve this we need to work shoulder to shoulder to reach a balance in managing the games and atmosphere. Balance, as I have said before, is the real key to success", concluded the Napoli head coach.