Lazio vs Napoli - Napoli focused on top-two finish in Serie A ahead of Lazio meeting

Posted Saturday, April 08, 2017 by PA

Marek Hamsik says Napoli will react to their Coppa Italia disappointment by gunning for second place in the Serie A table - even if Lazio are determined to drag them down.

Four days after holding leaders Juventus to a 1-1 draw in Naples, the Azzurri hosted Juve again in the cup, but their 3-2 victory on the night was not enough to overturn the first-leg result and they missed out on a place in the final.

Meeting Juve in the June showpiece will be Lazio, who are Napoli's next opponents in the league on Sunday.

Simone Inzaghi's Biancocelesti are four points behind Maurizio Sarri's men with eight games remaining, and a run of six wins from eight has given the Romans confidence they can break into the Champions League spots.

Napoli captain Hamsik is focusing only on chasing down second-placed Roma, however.

He told La Repubblica Sport: "We put on a great performance against Juventus but we couldn't celebrate. The victory was not enough.

"We are now looking at the championship and we would love to get into a stronger position and make sure we participate in next season's Champions League.

"We will fight right until the end of the season."

Napoli's only absentee is Lorenzo Tonelli, the former Empoli defender who is injured, while boss Sarri is likely to restore his first-choice line-up after making sweeping changes for the Coppa.

That means Amadou Diawara, Arkadiusz Milik and and Piotr Zielinski should drop to the bench with Allan, Dries Mertens and Jorginho coming in.

Lazio are missing Federico Marchetti, Lucas Biglia and Stefan de Vrij but have fully-fit Italy striker Ciro Immobile - with nine goals in his last nine games in all competitions - ready to spearhead the attack in the capital.

The Biancocelesti lost their second-leg cup encounter with city rivals Roma 3-2 in midweek but, unlike Napoli, had done enough to reach the final, and Inzaghi's only concern at full-time was that his side would recover for Sunday.

"We will have to get our energy back somehow," he said. "But I am calm because we have missed important players on numerous occasions this season but coped anyway.

"I have an amazing group of lads.

"We have to be careful and take it game by game, but I'm confident."

Lazio held Napoli to a 1-1 draw in November but shipped seven unanswered goals to the Campanians last term.