Mazzarri: Anything can happen

Napoli manager Walter Mazzarri has asked his players to narrow their focus as the Serie A season heads toward a thrilling finale.

The Naples club slipped from second to third on the table following a 3-0 loss at AC Milan on Monday, and they now trail the league leaders by six points.

With second-placed Inter Milan just a point away and Lazio, Udinese and Roma all pushing for a Champions League place, Mazzarri is wary of his squad becoming distracted.

“We should only be focused on ourselves and continue to play in the championship as we have done so far,” Mazzarri said.

“There is no use in looking at the others.”

“Mathematics confirms also that teams such as Roma and Juventus can achieve higher positions in the league depending on the results on the pitch.”

“Events affect the results, therefore anything can happen.”

Next up for Napoli is a visit from lowly Brescia, who are mired in a relegation battle after taking just 24 points from 27 fixtures so far this term.

But Mazzari has warned of the challenge facing his team on Sunday, and every matchday until the season has concluded.

“I totally respect Brescia – they have great skills and players such as (Alessandro) Diamanti and (Andrea) Caracciolo,” he said.

“The defenders are also very good, such as (Jonathan) Zebina, and their coaching staff is very good.”

“It shows the high level that Serie A has reached since there isn’t the gap between the bigger and smaller teams.”

“I already know it will be tough and I’d like the people to get prepared for it. The matches are going to be difficult, even home matches.”

“There will be moments when we won’t be able to play as we may want to do since the other teams will stop us from doing so.”

“We’ll have to suffer, but we should all find the best way in order to win as many matches as possible out of the 11 matches from here until the end of the season.”