Defensive frailties worry Mazzarri

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri has warned his team that they cannot repeat the same mistakes against Chelsea from Friday’s win over Cagliari.

The San Paolo outfit were never on the back foot in the 6-3 result, but the three goals conceded will raise doubts over their ability to hold on to a two-goal lead from the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with the London outfit, with the second leg taking place on Wednesday.

“I am angry because, although this was a close match, we should not have conceded the last two goals,” Mazzarri told Sky Sport Italia.

“We cannot relax, not even for a moment, or we will concede goals. We must reflect on this.”

“We will work hard on this aspect. It does not happen only with Napoli, we saw it with AC Milan (against Arsenal).”

“We must not be shy at the start, we must not think about the advantage we have, but play the way we know.”

Despite the scoreline against Cagliari, Mazzarri dismissed the notion that it was an easy match.

“I am happy with the way we played on the pitch,” Mazzarri said.

“We faced a very motivated team, who were initially well positioned on the field.”

Napoli have moved up to fourth in the Serie A table with the victory, but could be leapfrogged by Udinese when they play their match against Novara on Sunday.