Maurizio Sarri saw Napoli “playing with real sharpness again” in a hard-fought 4-2 win over Udinese and keeps his options open against Juventus.
The Partenopei were twice trailing at home to an Udinese side that has now lost 10 games in a row, but managed to eventually turn it around for a 4-2 victory.
It puts them just four points off the top of the table going into Sunday’s showdown, as Juventus were held 1-1 by relegation-threatened Crotone.
Maurizio Sarri saw Napoli “playing with real sharpness again” in a hard-fought 4-2 win over Udinese and keeps his options open against Juventus.
The Partenopei were twice trailing at home to an Udinese side that has now lost 10 games in a row, but managed to eventually turn it around for a 4-2 victory.
It puts them just four points off the top of the table going into Sunday’s showdown, as Juventus were held 1-1 by relegation-threatened Crotone.
“We had a very good initial approach and 25 minutes at a very high level, then 10 minutes of nothingness. After the restart, there was another blackout for 10 minutes, but towards the end we hit extraordinary heights,” the Coach told Mediaset Premium.
“It’s disappointing that we allowed those two goals, but I am happy because I saw the team playing with real sharpness again.
“Our team always tries to take the initiative and play our football, regardless of venue, opponent or situation. That is our philosophy.
“Clearly, it’s difficult to go to Turin and try to get the victory, as in terms of strength in depth, I think Juventus are the most complete team in Europe. We’ll give it our best shot.”
Dries Mertens was rested this evening and Arkadiusz Milik had his first start since the knee injury in September, and he was again on target.
“In principle, we develop service the same way for him and Mertens, though naturally Arek is stronger in the air, so there are more floated crosses. If there’s Mertens, we try to enter the box with quick one-two passes, but the movement doesn’t change that much.
“Lately we’ve been very solid defensively, but had some moments of real passivity today. It’s better that they happened tonight rather than on Sunday. I hope it was a one-off, as the team knows full well how fundamental the defensive movements are in the next game.
“There are five rounds left, so saying it all depends on the match in Turin is reductive. It’s a difficult fixture, just as it would be travelling to Paris or Manchester.”
Will Mertens or Milik start against Juventus, or perhaps both?
“I’ll answer you after Sunday morning’s training session. I’ll evaluate how Milik is doing, but it was his first start in seven months, so another game after four days might be tricky.”