Francesco Calzona confident of Napoli's chances

Speaking ahead of the Champions League game with Barça, which he calls "the biggest game of the year", Napoli manager Francesco Calzona stressed how much it would mean for his team to qualify for the quarter finals against "a very strong adversary."

Praise for Lamine Yamal

Everyone is talking about Lamine Yamal and Calzona is no exception. "He has the ability to become one of the best players in the world" he said. He's very young, just a teenager, and yet he plays like a veteran."

As for the absence of Frenkie de Jong, the man who is combining his Napoli duties with management of the Slovak national team insists that "Barça have a big squad and have the ability to provide a good replacement."

On his own side, he mused that "we have a more compact squad, but we dominate opponents and score a lot of goals, and that is commendable. They have made giant strides under my management in recent weeks. There are still things to work on, but a lot of things have changed."

Matteo Politano aiming high

Matteo Politano was the player chosen to offer his thoughts, and explained that "we will go full out and our goal is to get through the round, for the club, for the city and for our fans."

He also feels the game could last longer than the scheduled 90 minutes. "We've been practising penalties" he admitted. "But we hope it doesn't come to that and we can win the game directly. This year Barça have been struggling at the back and we have studied their weak points. We have to go out there are play the ball around and not defend too deep. With our depth of play, the chances are sure to come and we have to make sure we take them."