Cagliari vs Napoli preview - Benitez wants more of the same
Posted Saturday, April 18, 2015 by PA
Napoli will look to pick up where they left off in Thursday's stunning triumph at Wolfsburg when they face Cagliari in Sardinia on Sunday in Serie A.
Rafael Benitez's men scored an emphatic 4-1 away victory to take a giant step towards the Europa League semi-finals. It was Napoli's first win on German soil.
"We played an excellent game and we achieved a landslide victory," Benitez said on his club's official website. "This is the result of hard work that we have been carrying on for one year.
"Many times Napoli have shown that we can be competitive against top European opponents.
"Compared to our previous games, we managed to finish off chances much more and this was the difference.
"We pulled off a superb performance and we want to continue on this positive track.
"We need to look ahead and we should be focused on Cagliari - and only after that game will we concentrate on the return leg."
Napoli host Wolfsburg next Thursday after their trip to Sardinia.
Benitez's team travel to Cagliari looking for their first win away from home in Serie A since February 1.
Napoli bounced back from defeats to Roma and Lazio with a 3-0 home triumph over Fiorentina last weekend.
The Naples outfit are fourth in the standings, seven points adrift of Roma, who hold the last Champions League qualifying spot.
Things are not looking good for Cagliari.
The Sardinian outfit, who last won a game on January 24, have lost six of their last seven games, including last weekend's 2-0 defeat at Genoa.
Cagliari are 19th in the standings and eight points adrift of safety.
The Islanders have the worst defensive line in the competition with 58 goals conceded.
Moreover, they have failed to score more than once in a game since a 2-1 triumph over Sassuolo in January.
Cagliari have yet to hand coach Zdenek Zeman his first win since he returned last month to guide the club following the dismissal of Gianfranco Zola.
Zeman will have all of his players available, with the exception of suspended midfielder Lorenzo Crisetig.
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