Napoli v Internazionale: Preview

Napoli striker Ezequiel Lavezzi has urged his team-mates to make sure they secure a place in the Champions League group stages when they face Inter Milan at Stadio San Paulo tomorrow.

The Naples club are currently third in the Serie A table, with fourth-placed Udinese six points behind with two rounds of fixtures to go.

That leaves Walter Mazzarri’s side needing just a point to make sure they avoid the qualifying rounds of Europe’s showpiece club tournament, as well as recording their best league finish since the days when the likes of Diego Maradona and Antonio Careca plied their trade for the club.

And Lavezzi does not want to head to the final day of the season with third place still in the balance.

“We deserve a great achievement, we are missing one point and need to take it,” said the Argentinian.

“We are aware that with one point we reach a goal that we have pursued throughout the year. But I am sure we will succeed.

“Our ambition is always to get to the top, but looking back at last summer we did not expect to get so high.

“But we deserve to be here. Now there are six points up for grabs, we still need to get something and we will give everything.

“We have a large squad and on this basis we will grow together as a team. New players will arrive in the summer and hopefully we will be able to fight again for great things next season.”

Inter, who reached the Coppa Italia final in midweek, are not yet guaranteed second spot as they lie just four points ahead of Napoli, and they have already missed out on the title to city rivals AC Milan, but manager Leonardo says he has no regrets about his decision to join Inter.

The former Rossoneri boss said: “I don’t have regrets. The rapport with [president Massimo] Moratti is still perfect, even after my difficult decision to come here from Milan.”

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

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Furious Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has ripped into his players following a 2-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Lecce on Sunday, claiming they are not fit to wear the Azzurri shirt.

Javier Chevanton’s controversial late strike earned last season’s Serie B champions Lecce a vital victory at the Stadio via del Mare.

Napoli, who earlier this season were challenging for the Serie A title, need to take one more point from their final two matches to secure a Champions League berth but De Laurentiis was not happy with the performance at the weekend.

De Laurentiis told Italian television channel Rai 2: “The game was decided by a last-minute goal, it is true. But it was a performance that made me very sad.

“A goal such as Chevanton’s indicates the presence of a team very immature and not ready to compete at the highest levels. We did not play as a cohesive group and were not able to concentrate at the decisive moments.

“The players were not worthy to wear the jersey and to represent the colours of Napoli.”

Coach Walter Mazzarri said his side had been “naive” but felt the loss was harsh. He told club website: “The team were inaccurate and naive, this is true, but showed the right determination. Perhaps we were a bit tired from the heat, but we did not deserve this [defeat].

“Now we look ahead. We will try to get the most out of the final two matches [against Inter Milan and Juventus] and finish as high as possible.”

Napoli will head into Sunday’s big match against second-placed Inter without star striker Edinson Cavani, who was sent off on Sunday night for two bookable offences.

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

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