Hamsik ecstatic as Napoli march on

Marek Hamsik described Napoli’s progression to the Champions League round of 16 as ‘a crazy sensation’ after beating Villarreal 2-0.

Goals from Gokhan Inler and Slovakia captain Hamsik helped Napoli defeat Villarreal away from home on Wednesday.

The three crucial points meant Napoli finished ahead of Manchester City in Group A, reaching the knockout stages as runners-up behind Bayern Munich.

“It’s a crazy sensation now that we have achieved this,” Hamsik told UEFA.

“We are so happy. It’s 21 years since we reached this stage in the European Cup, so this is fantastic.”

“Napoli have football-crazy fans, which you can see by the fact that 5,000 of them have followed us here (Villarreal’s El Madrigal).”

“When the group was drawn we knew it was a very hard one, but today we have 11 points and that’s a fantastic achievement. Now we’ll wait to see which team we are going to play next.”

The draw for the Champions League round of 16 takes place on Friday December 16.