Mazzarri cautious on Serie A hopes

Napoli boss Walter Mazzarri has warned his players to ignore the Serie A table or risk ‘messing up’ their Scudetto chances.

Napoli defeated Cagliari 2-1 on Sunday to draw within three points of league leaders AC Milan and one point of Inter Milan on the table, setting up a thrilling conclusion to the Serie A season.

And the Naples outfit could benefit greatly from the Derby della Madonnina between Milan and Inter when the league resumes next week, given a draw at the San Siro would allow Napoli to move within one point of top spot with a win against Lazio.

But Mazzarri has cautioned his side to disregard those thoughts and focus solely on the game ahead of them, saying too much pressure could blow their hopes of lifting the Italian trophy for the first time in 20 years.

“We are putting pressure on ourselves, as we always want to do better,” Mazzarri said.

“We’ve got to focus only on us and not think about anything else. Keep your heads down and push on, because it would be a crime to mess up the last few games.”

“It wasn’t easy to break down Cagliari, who kept the pressure up continually. After the break we managed to create a little more space and were sharper, also as we stepped on to the field with a different spirit.”

“However, we’ve got to be more clinical when we take the lead and not risk throwing away valuable points.”

Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani netted a brace at Cagliari – his 21st and 22nd goals of the season – and said Napoli are daring to dream of Scudetto glory.

“We wanted this victory very much, as it is bringing Napoli closer to a dream. You never know in football,” he said.

“These goals are down to the team, who work very hard and put me in a position to score. We believe in hard work and have done since the start of the season, so you can see the results.”

“We will keep doing our best and cultivating this little dream of ours.”