Napoli coach Rafael Benitez has demanded an immediate res-ponse from his players in their Europa League Group I opener against Sparta Prague at the Stadio San Paolo tonight.
Benitez was left disappointed with his side’s 1-0 home defeat to Chievo on Sunday in their second Serie A match of the season.
“We need to bounce back immediately and prove that we are a competitive team not only in Italy but in Europe,” he said.
“Against Chievo we had 11 goalscoring chances while we took 33 shots and yet we failed to score.
“We clearly need to be more ruthless in front of goal and be stronger mentally.”
The Italians return to play in Europe having missed out on Champions League football after losing their play-off tie to Athletic Bilbao last month.
“We need to improve and work hard,” Napoli defender Raul Albiol said to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“We didn’t expect to miss out on the Champions League and to lose against Chievo.
“But I’m confident we will bounce back and hand a better performance against Sparta Prague.”
Sparta travel to the Stadio San Paolo looking for their first European away win since a 2-0 triumph at FC Admira Wacker Modlin in August 2012.
The Czech champions will be without midfielder Lukas Vacha, who is suspended while striker Tomas Prikryl is out injured.
Benitez is set to make some changes, with Dutch midfielder Jonathan De Guzman set to play from the start with Marek Hamsik relegated to the bench.
Moreover, Spanish striker Michu, who joined Napoli from Swansea this summer, could play alongside Duvan Zapata upfront.
Playing today
Group A: 19.00 A. Limassol vs FC Zurich; B. M’gladbach vs Villarreal.
Group B: 19.00 Bruges vs Torino; FC Copenhagen vs HJK Helsinki.
Group C: 19.00 Besiktas vs A. Tripolis; P. Belgrade vs Tottenham.
Group D: 19.00 D. Zagreb vs Astra; Salzburg vs Celtic.
Group E: 19.00 PSV vs Estoril; Panathinaikos vs D. Moscow.
Group F: 18.00 Qarabag vs St Etienne; 19.00 Dnipro vs Inter.
Group G: 21.05 Sevilla vs Feyenoord; S. Liege vs Rijeka.
Group H: 21.05 Everton vs Wolfsburg; Lille vs Krasnodar.
Group I: 21.05 Napoli vs S. Prague; Young Boys vs S. Bratislava.
Group J: 21.05 Rio Ave vs D. Kiev; S. Bucharest vs Aalborg.
Group K: 21.05 Fiorentina vs Guingamp; PAOK vs D. Minsk.
Group L: 21.05 L. Warsaw vs Lokeren; Metalist Kharkiv vs Trabzonspor.