The Napoli defender was shell shocked after their defeat in London, but stated that the team leaves with their heads held high and with greater hunger.
The Partenopei entered the tie on the back of a great run of form and were touted by many as favourites to progress. However, in what was an enthralling fixture, Chelsea defied the odds and managed to beat
the travelling team in extra time courtesy a http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Branislav-Ivanovic-c7994 strike.
Napoli have been the fairy tale of this year’s Champions League, and nobody could have imagined them progressing so far in the competition. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 under the new management of Roberto Di Matteo seemed too
hot to handle for the Napoli defence, as they managed to score in the opening half. Even though Gokhan Inler scored a spectacular goal to pull the Partenopei back into the competition, the Blues had too much about them for Napoli’s liking.
Even though the defeat left the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Napoli-c40003 stalwart disappointed, he is still optimistic and focussed on the positives of the outcome. He laid out his thoughts on the match in an interview, stating:
“It hurts to lose like this, as we had so many chances, but this is the result and we leave the Champions League with our heads held very high.”
The concession of the second goal was needless one for the Azzurri, and the skipper admitted that there had indeed been an error in communication between the defensive line-up. He commented on the issue by
stating:
“You can barely hear anything on the pitch, as it’s just a wall of noise. There was a little misunderstanding in defence on the second goal, which is a shame.”
The 30-year-old stated that the team are motivated, and having tasted the atmosphere of the Champions League, they will give their all for qualification in the next year’s edition. Stressing on the importance
of their pursuit of the third-place in the Serie A, he remarked:
“We really wanted to push for third place in Serie A, but after tonight our hunger has become stronger because playing in arenas like this is our objective.”
Napoli are battling it out with Udinese and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lazio-c39775 for the third position.
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