Sarri eyes Manchester United after Napoli reach Champions League groups

Napoli head coach Maurizio Sarri is hoping to face Manchester United in the group stage of the Champions League.

The Serie A side progressed from their play-off tie with Nice on Tuesday after a 2-0 victory in France sealed a commanding 4-0 aggregate win.

United earned their place in Thursday’s draw by virtue of winning the Europa League last season and Jose Mourinho’s side have started 2017-18 in commanding fashion, winning 4-0 in each of their opening Premier League games against West Ham and Swansea City.

And Sarri admits it would be a special occasion if Napoli were given the chance to head to Old Trafford to face the 20-time champions of England.

“I’d love to play against Manchester United at Old Trafford,” he said following Tuesday’s win over Nice.

“I hope to do well both in Europe and in Italy. I complimented my players and then 30 seconds later told them they had to face Atalanta this weekend, who we dropped a lot of points against last season.

“It would have been really negative to miss out on the Champions League. Now we’ve got to keep the excitement in check, because that can lead us down the wrong path. These boys deserved the Champions League, though.

“The draw for this round was not easy and I want to thank the players for showing how much they care about Napoli. Some could have been on vacation at the start of July, but they decided against extra time off so they could train with the team.”