Luciano Spalletti saluted his Napoli warriors for going right to the wire in victory over Spezia - but warned they can't leave it so late again.
The Serie A side are scheduled to arrive at Ibrox for a Champions League group stage showdown with Rangers on Tuesday. Spalletti's side started their campaign in blistering fashion with a hugely impressive 4-1 win over last season's finalists Liverpool. They returned to domestic action on Saturday afternoon without star forward Victor Osimhen, who missed out through injury.
But it was the Nigeria international's replacement, Giacomo Raspadori, who took the plaudits with an 89th minute winner to keep unbeaten Napoli top of Serie A after six games. Spalletti reckons his players showed undeniable grit after their gruelling exploits in midweek but insists they need to be more clinical. He said: “It’s difficult to play three days after a night like that against Liverpool, especially in the afternoon in this heat, but despite it all, we did everything we could to get the result.
"Thanks to our determination to keep going to the end, we found the breakthrough. This is a show of character, patience, belief that sooner or later we’ll find the goal, but we can’t always afford to be in these situations and they were costly last season.
“The players were exceptional in some ways today, but you don’t always get Raspadori giving the final blow and we need to improve that.”
With Osimhen still on the sidelines, Raspadori is set to lead the line against Rangers on Tuesday. And he'll be brimming with confidence stepping out at Ibrox after Spalletti rated his weekend performance as "exceptional".
The Napoli boss said: “Raspadori was exceptional, he came back many times to create the link with the midfield, then moved onto the right he worked for the defence too. That is his position, he’s not a centre-forward and not a winger, he plays sort of centre-left. Well done, Raspa!”
