Salernitana president Danilo Iervolino has warned his side of falling deep into trouble if they do not take Napoli seriously when they host them on the weekend. The Partenopei, who play the most beautiful football in Europe according to the club chief, are undefeated against the Granata in the top-flight in four meetings (W2, D2).
Iervolino spoke to the microphones of Radio Kiss Kiss (via TuttoNapoli) and threw light upon his club’s fight for survival, which might further be threatened if they do not keep the league leaders at bay.
“Napoli is the team that plays the most beautiful game in Europe, with a finisher like Osimhen. We must not feel the pressure of necessarily having to score points with the leaders, but we must have pride and take advantage of all the opportunities they will give us. We will have to be careful, fight on each ball and play with our heads held high. Napoli are an incredible team, but we’re ready to play them.”
When quizzed if there is a possibility to bring the fans of both clubs together despite their rivalry, he further elaborated on the relationship between the two clubs, saying there is immense respect between the respective hierarchies.
“President De Laurentiis and I are friends, we respect each other very much. We said it from day one: we want to create a bridge between the two companies, the two fans, the two cities. We respect the decision of the Police Headquarters. I am convinced that if the Napoli fans had come, we would have been able to manage everything in an extraordinary way and there would have been no unrest. We want to show that beautiful things and high quality football can be done in the South.”
Salernitana are in a tumultuous situation at the moment, with chief Iervolino hiring Davide Nicola just two days after axing him from the managerial position.
“The Salernitana project is very popular with the fans, the city. And this makes us proud. I chose Nicola again because I assessed the situation in all respects. He told me that only when you lose something do you realize how much you miss it, and this conquered me.”
The Italian minnows arrive into the fixture following the historic 8-2 demolition experienced at Atalanta, which forced Iervolino to take the drastic step of dismissing Nicola. In stark contrast, Napoli are flying high at the top of standings after knocking Juventus out cold 5-1 at home.
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