Head coach Rudi Garcia has hit back at media after being asked about the pressures of coaching Napoli by responding with: “Don’t invent things that aren’t in my head”. There had been some concerns about Garcia’s time in charge already after his side fell short in their last two Serie A games.
However, Napoli kicked off their Champions League campaign with a win on Wednesday night as they defeated Braga 2-1. Captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo put the visitors a goal up just before the break but Bruma responded for the Portuguese outfit late on. Nevertheless, an own goal by Sikou Niakate saw Napoli come away with all three points. Garcia spoke with Mediaset Infinity+ after the game:
“We were good in the first half at creating many chances, we could have scored earlier, we also lacked a bit of luck, we hit the crossbar and the goalkeeper made an incredible save. In the second half we made a mistake in going further forward with rapid attacks because it is normal for Sporting Braga to take risks, playing at home, and if there is one thing we did wrong it was not doubling the score. We would have protected ourselves from a draw. When Braga equalised, however, we showed character , we went back forward and on the strong cross from Zielinski there was the luck we were missing before. I’m happy with the state of mind and the spirit of the team.”
When asked about the sigh of relief following Di Lorenzo’s goal and the pressure in coaching Napoli: “No, totally wrong. When you have so many chances and you don’t score it’s normal that when you find the goal, even more so before the break and with such a beautiful goal, you have that reaction. Don’t invent things that aren’t in my head”.
