The Italian centre back analyses Thursday’s match against Napoli (7:00pm CET)
Daniele Bonera knows Napoli well. The experienced centre back believes the UEFA Europa League knockout phase match between Villarreal and the Italian side will be very even; as the fourth placed team in LaLiga takes on the second placed team in Serie A. “We are going to play to win. It will be difficult for both teams. At the moment we are feeling fit and doing well on the pitch. We will try to play well as we did in our last match. To be fourth in LaLiga is not easy. We are doing a great job, but we have to keep trying to improve our performance every day. Looking at our squad we have a great chance to qualify for the next round”, Bonera commented.
The defender believes Napoli are second on their own merits: “They have changed the manager and many players this season. At the moment they are second in a league that is not easy by any means. It’s a surprise, but their manager’s work is proving to be very important. He is a great manager that has already showed his worth in Empoli, who played really well under him. Napoli are strong in defence and have some great individuals up front. The manager has shown great intelligence in managing to sync their most important players”.
According to Bonera, to get a positive result in El Madrigal this Thursday (7:00pm CET) will be key in the development of the knockout stages: “San Paolo is a very difficult stadium to play at. People live all week for the match at the weekend. We will have to have a good game in the first leg because it will be really tough when we go there. In Italy they really respect Villarreal and we also respect Napoli, but we’re not scared of them. They know they’re going to have a really tough match against us”.
Villarreal and Napoli both stand out defensively; the Yellows having conceded just 18 goals in LaLiga and the Italian team 20. “Both teams have great defences. We let in very few goals and so it’s hard to predict the result. We will have to be competitive to the maximum. Napoli are a strong, significant side that are playing very well”, Bonera concluded.
