Napoli attacker Dries Mertens and Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac are on a mind game ahead of the April 11 Europa quarterfinal duel at the Emirates. Dries says there’ll be no excuses if they fail to beat Arsenal in the Europa League quarterfinals.
But Kolasinac has told teammates that they need to stop starting so slowy against a strong team like Napoli. They had to comeback against both Rennes and BATE Borisov to reach the final eight.
The first leg will be in London on April 11, with the decider at the Stadio San Paolo on April 18.
“We are happy with the draw, as it’ll be difficult, but if you don’t win games like this, then you don’t deserve to lift the trophy,” Mertens told Radio Kiss Kiss.
“We faced Arsenal when Rafa Banitez was the Coach, but the team has grown so much since then. We lost some players, but brought in others, while gaining experience. We’re stronger now.
“Napoli had a good Champions League group phase, especially against Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain, so we ought to have faith in ourselves.”
Kolasinac has warned that slow starts over the first 90 minutes need to be avoided now the competition is hotting up.
“It’s really important, obviously it’s always very difficult when you lose the first game,” he replied when asked how key a positive result will be in the first leg next time round.
“We are aware of that, it’s not something we want to do of course. It is something we are going to work on in the next round. Of course the key will be to start better than we have in these last two ties.
“We didn’t put ourselves in a good position at the end of that first leg. Having said that, I think that away goal was crucial for us.
“It was difficult for us because we had to play with 10 men for about 50 minutes of that first game as well. We made it difficult, but we knew how strong we are at home and we deservedly went through tonight.”