Sarri compares Napoli to 1970’s Holland

CAIRO – 23 February 2018: Napoli was about to turn the table on RB Leipzig and decide the tie, but the 2-0 victory wasn’t enough.

Napoli visited Germany to face Leipzig in the second leg of the 32nd round of the Europa League.

The southern Italian team was defeated by the Germans last week 1-3 in Italy. Napoli needed to win with three goals, but they only managed to score two goals in the second leg, which wasn’t enough to qualify to the 16th round of the European competition.

Despite this, Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri has wanted to insist on the quality of the team and the "soul" that they give to the world.

Without going any further, he has compared his team with "Holland of 1970." According to Sarri, Napoli, like that Dutch national team, did not win but will be remembered for their achievements.

"We will take the important side to this story – that we have character. The good thing is that we will have more time to train,” he said.

Sarri continued, "This club has achieved extraordinary results over these years. From this evening's game you can take the positive that there is still one objective.”

"In Italy in the last six years, nobody has ever fought it out with Juventus. Obviously everyone wants to win and so do we, but it should be recognized how much we have done,” he added.

Sarri did not believe the bitter taste of defeat, but stressed that they probably lost because of the last minutes of the first leg.

With this elimination, Napoli will have to concentrate its efforts in the Italian league to be able to lift the Scudetto trophy.

"The team gave a strong response and that is a good message for the league. At times we all go for it a little too much. In the first leg, we did not do well,” Sarri said.

At the moment, Napoli is leader of the Serie A with a one-point advantage over Juventus, who are placed second.