Napoli think positive and demand ‘more determination’ from Lucca

Napoli director Giovanni Manna insists they must remain ‘positive’ during an injury crisis after Champions League setbacks, but demands ‘more determination’ from Lorenzo Lucca.

It kicks off at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine at 14.00 GMT.

See how all today’s five Serie A games unfold on the Liveblog.

The Partenopei are flying high in Serie A at the top of the table alongside AC Milan, but the lack of options for squad rotation are starting to take their toll.

They looked exhausted in the midweek Champions League defeat to Benfica, which left them scrambling just to secure a place in the play-offs.

“Quite simply, we are playing with the same figures repeatedly, because there are few alternatives, it becomes difficult to rotate,” Manna told DAZN Italia.

“We proved that we were superior over our opponents with a series of head-to-head wins, it can happen that you feel fatigued and if you are not at 100 per cent in the Champions League, you will struggle.

“There are many matches, we hope to get as many players back as possible. It is a tough game today, a very physical one, so we must be positive.”

The injury list just keeps growing, as Juan Jesus has joined Billy Gilmour, Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa, Kevin De Bruyne, Alex Meret and Romelu Lukaku on the treatment table.

At least Stanislav Lobotka and Miguel Gutierrez are back for a spot on the bench, while the only change to the starting XI is Leonardo Spinazzola.

Is there a reason why Napoli give their best in Serie A and yet are struggling so badly in the Champions League?

“If I analyse the Champions League games, the only one we got really badly wrong was in Eindhoven,” insisted Manna of that 6-1 loss.

“We were down to 10 men with Manchester City for over an hour, we deserved more against Eintracht, we beat Qarabag and Sporting. Our energy levels were depleted against Benfica, but we still created scoring opportunities.

“I remain very positive, I feel the work that the coach and players are doing is clear for all to see. Now we’ve got to keep focused and try to bring home the points.”

Despite the injury crisis, ex-Udinese striker Lorenzo Lucca can barely get on the pitch, as Rasmus Hojlund is the first choice centre-forward.

There have also been reports that Napoli could try to sign Udinese midfielder Arthur Atta, although he is out of action today.

“I am hardly the first to notice Atta’s talent and everyone knows he’s destined for a great career,” replied the Napoli director when pushed on this player.

“Aside from the transfer gossip, he is a player beyond our range right now. Udinese always had a great scouting network to find talented young players with big prospects.

“As for Lucca, he needs to speed up the process of settling in and show more determination on the field. We are convinced he has the right characteristics to play for Napoli, but he must understand this is a different club to Udinese, he needs to show determination every single day in training and on the pitch.”