Mazzarri aiming to infiltrate big boys

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri is aiming to establish his side amongst Serie A’s big boys and to do so he wants his players to prove they’re capable of lasting the course at the top.

In midweek Napoli became the only Italian team to make it out of the Europa League group stages as they took second place behind Group K rivals Liverpool.

And now Mazzarri expects his players to demonstrate they can handle two games in a week and also despatch so-called smaller teams on a regular basis as they host lowly Lecce on Sunday.

“The results on the pitch say we’re very close to the big teams and if we continue like this we can think about joining them,” he said.

“We’re more aware of our possibilities and I’m curious to evaluate tomorrow our improvement and to see if the team is at its best.”

Napoli have made a habit of scoring late goals under Mazzarri, leading the Italian press to dub the last 15 minutes of a game the “Mazzarri zone”.

“If we score late on it means that we don’t ever give up, when our opponents think it’s in the bag, we hit them.

“We were born to suffer, other teams are more clinical and reap the rewards sooner.”

But Mazzarri is worried about how his team will react to a match that on paper at least they should win comfortably.

“Paradoxically I would be happier if we were playing Milan because then the motivation takes care of itself,” he said.

“In this sense, tomorrow’s game is crucial, we can’t afford to mess up. I want to see if we really have taken a step up in quality.

“These are the type of games in which you find out how mature a team is.

“You could call this game a trap … but I’ll do my all to ensure the players are super-concentrated.”

Napoli are third in the table, six points behind leaders AC Milan and level on points with Juventus (second) and Lazio (fourth).