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Benítez applauds Napoli attitude

SSC Napoli's "positive reaction" to falling behind was key for Rafael Benítez, leaving Élie Baup to reflect on an improved but still frustrating Olympique de Marseille display.

Benítez applauds Napoli attitude
Benítez applauds Napoli attitude ©UEFA.com

Rafael Benítez, Napoli coach
It's not easy to play after going a goal down, but it was a positive reaction. The match ended 3-2 and we could have had another goal. I am very satisfied with the attitude of my team. Today we saw a different Marseille from the first game – they did a lot of pressing and it was not easy to play. Were the goals avoidable? We will analyse the errors and look to correct them in training.

A coach must be satisfied after a game like this. We could have played better certainly, but our reaction after their goal was impressive. If we manage to avoid defeat at Dortmund we will be through but we are fully aware that they are very strong opponents. We will go there to win, even if one point would be enough. We could go out with 12 points, while nine points are enough to qualify in other groups, but we knew this group was extremely even.

I think Goran [Pandev] is as good as Marek Hamšík behind the forwards – they both have great quality – so I started with him because he was fresher. We have a good defensive record in Serie A but we are still not perfect at the back, as we could see today. Tomorrow the players will be free to spend a day with their families even if we have a big match against Juventus at the weekend. They need a day to recover physically and mentally.

Élie Baup, Marseille coach
We made some improvements but we still made mistakes. We have a good team who were able to score two goals in Naples – but things keep going against us. We knew it would be hard and we gave our best. Now I must concentrate on working to continue to improve the situation. This squad does not give up.

In this game, we can say we were not very far from getting a result, but again they scored the extra goal. However, we showed that we wanted to go for it and we had opportunities – we're not far away, but the outcome is not a positive one. It's clear that our group with Arsenal, the Premier League leaders, Napoli, who are targeting the Scudetto, and Dortmund, chasing Bayern in the Bundelsiga, is a difficult section. We have done our best to rival them all.

Tonight there were some interesting things in the game. But we must be clear about the level of the teams we have played. These are teams aiming for the quarter-finals and there is one of them who will go out. From the beginning we knew this was a really tough draw and we tried to give a good account of ourselves. Tonight was a much better game than we managed at home.

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