Napoli beat Sampdoria 2-0 yesterday without new defender Manolas, as Carlo Ancelotti wanted to rest the player after the international break and ahead of the Champions League match this week against Liverpool. The Greek defender spoke to Sky Sport, saying: “It’s a positive sign, we won without giving up a goal. If you want to always remain at the top, you have to win these games. It’s still very early to talk about a three way fight between us, Inter and Juventus. Inter had an easier beginning, meanwhile we played two difficult matches away from home against Juve and Fiorentina, where even Juventus didn’t win (in Florence). We’ve had the toughest beginning schedule out of everyone, but it’s still to early to say who will fight for the scudetto, in football you never know.”
”Every year Napoli fights for the scudetto, but it’s still too early to make any big declarations. We have to show on the field that we are ready to fight. The strongest team remains Juventus, but we have great quality and we’ll fight to win every game, it’s a promise. The defense doesn’t depend only on two defenders. You don’t defend in two or four, but rather 11 in order to have the best results. Koulibaly is a great player, like Maksimovic and Luperto. We’re all central defenders of a high level and we’ll do the most possible to reach our objectives.”
