Rafa Benitez said Napoli and fans must “learn” from their Champions League exit, but pour that energy into facing Genoa on Sunday.

The Partenopei open their Serie A season at Marassi tomorrow at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT). Click here for a match preview.

Rafa Benitez said Napoli and fans must “learn” from their Champions League exit, but pour that energy into facing Genoa on Sunday.

The Partenopei open their Serie A season at Marassi tomorrow at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT). Click here for a match preview.

“How is the team after Bilbao? In football everything can change from one week to the next,” said the Coach in his Press conference.

Their 3-1 defeat on the night, 4-2 on aggregate, saw Athletic Bilbao go through to the Champions League and Napoli re-routed into the Europa League.

“We know that if we do what we did last season, we can win against anyone. We must learn from what happened in Bilbao, as we saw an entire city behind their team even when 1-0 down at home.

“We need to stick together in moving forward. Our fans are intelligent, so if we can stay together throughout the season, we’ll go back to being the side we were last year. Don’t forget many players are returning from the World Cup and still need to find their form.”

The appeal to the supporters came after angry jeers during the 1-1 first leg draw with Athletic and plummeting season ticket sales this summer.

“I am not coming here to say ‘we’ll win the Scudetto and Europa League.’ I’m here to work for the next game. If Napoli can stay at the top for several years, we’ll have a better chance of winning, but it will never be easy.

“I told the players that whether we win, lose or draw against Genoa, we must be ready for a long season and not listen to anyone else.

“There’s so much talk about transfers, but we got what this squad needed. We signed Koulibaly in February, then Michu and De Guzman who have the characteristics we were looking for.

“David Lopez will have his medical this weekend. We know the market and what we could or could not achieve.

“The nephew of a woman whose neighbour works with a player says this guy doesn’t get on with Benitez and immediately people talk of a crisis. The Neapolitan who gets angry when criticised is the first who should be saying: ‘We go forward all together.’

“We mustn’t listen to those who spread rumours to cause trouble. We’ll see if the project can continue, but we cannot hear so much criticism and negativity before the season has even begun. I prefer to wait until April for criticism.

“Of course the team is pained and disappointed, because we know that we can play in the Champions League. We made mistakes while in the lead, but Athletic are strong and were two weeks ahead in their fitness schedule.”

Benitez was asked why Napoli had not brought in a top class midfielder after links with Marouane Fellaini, Sandro, Maxime Gonalons and Lucas Leiva.

“A few players left because we knew they wanted to go. The idea was to bring in a number one player in midfield, which eventually didn’t happen. I doubt there will be any last-minute arrivals, though someone might leave.

“I am against signing players for the sake of it if I don’t find the one I want.”

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