Mazzarri savours Chelsea challenge

Walter Mazzarri hopes his squad can handle the rigours of European football as they foray into the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The Italian outfit face Premier League heavyweight Chelsea in their round-of-16 tie next week.

Mazzarri is proud of the way his players have performed under the duress of domestic and continental competition, even if the challenge took some time to get used to.

“We are playing lots of games in a short space of time and we’re not used to it, therefore we could have a few problems. I’ve asked the guys to be extremely careful and they have done so,” Mazzarri said.

“I’m starting to get the days of the week confused as we’ve had very few chances to get together as a squad. Now we’re starting to get used to this situation and this is our greatest improvement.”

Mazzarri presided over his side’s 2-0 defeat of Chievo in the Serie A on Monday and believes they are having a great year, particularly given injuries that have affected the team.

“I believe we’re having a great year considering all the matches we’re playing. This isn’t a lucky year in terms of referees’ decisions and the number of injured players.”

“In other matches we played better, created more chances, but didn’t managed to score a goal, whereas (against Chievo) we had luck on our side.”

“We have seen the results of the hard work we’ve put in. At the end we’ll see the results, but what we have done up to now already represents an important success.”

Napoli face Fiorentina away in Serie A action on Friday before their home leg with Chelsea at the San Paolo on Tuesday.