Benitez under heavy pressure

Napoli boss Rafa Benitez has been under intense pressure at the start of the season after his failure to get the club into the Champions League for the first time in a few years. The team failed to the last hurdle in the qualifying stage. Even though it is well acknowledged that Napoli had a tough draw, many expected them to reach the stages of the prestigious European tournament. It would have given them access to more than £ 30 million in additional revenue. As it is, they will be playing in the group stages of the Europa league.
The team also has been suffering from poor form in the domestic campaign and this has led to talk of Benitez leaving the role if results do not improve. The manager, though, appears to have kept his job until after the international break after managing a 2-0 win over Slovan Bratislava. This victory in the Europa League has put the club top of the group I with two wins out of the two matches. They hold a substantial advantage over Sparta Praha and Young Boys in the second place. Benitez said after this important victory that he has seen enough from his team to suggest that they are on the way up.
“I substituted Hamsik towards the end because it was only right to give him that recognition of applause from the fans in Slovakia. It seemed positive to me. I said all season that we deserved more and just needed a bit of luck. Slovan have quality players and when they run at your defence they do cause problems. We must now continue along that path, as everyone knew what they had to do. What are our chances of qualifying? I am not playing this game this year,” said Benitez.