Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri told Sky Sport Italia his team suffered a nervous collapse after they all but threw away their hopes of winning the Serie A title by losing 3-0 at Fiorentina on Sunday.
With Juventus beating Inter Milan 3-2 a day earlier, Napoli needed to win to remain just a point behind Juve. The defeat, however, leaves them four points adrift with Juve playing two of their remaining three games at home.
Sarri believes the 1-0 win at Juventus the previous week that saw his side narrow the gap to a single point and sparked scenes of jubilation in Naples had given them false hope.
“We got totally lost [when] faced with the adversity of this game,” Sarri said. “After the red card, we lost our tactical security and, when we fell behind, we automatically became nervous.
“Some individuals tried to respond, but we didn’t play as a team. Fiorentina played a fantastic game, and in a season in which we’ve always been able to respond, this time we just lost our way.
“My players have great human values and I just think we got lost because we got carried away, because everybody was trying to do things by themselves. We’re the side who have turned more games around in Serie A than anybody else, so I don’t think it’s a mental weakness, but this was poor.”
As a result, Sarri has effectively thrown in the towel and said his side’s aim now is to pick up as many points as possible from their remaining three games.
“We’ll bounce back immediately,” he said. “We’ve just got to think of our next game and if we prepare it well, we can make our season look better in the remaining games.
“If we beat Torino, we will set a new club points record.”
That record, which Napoli set last season, is at 86 points. Heading into their final three games against Torino, Sampdoria and Crotone, they need only two more points to equal that haul.
Ben Gladwell reports on Serie A, the Italian national team and the Bundesliga for ESPN FC, UEFA and the Press Association. @UEFAcomBenG.
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