AFP/Paris
Rafeal Benitez is expecting no favours from Ukraine underdogs Dnipro for his swashbuckling Napoli side, while holders Sevilla await Fiorentina in today’s Europa League semi-final first leg ties.
A third Europa League title is at stake for knock-out king Benitez, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, the then UEFA Cup with Valencia in 2004 and the Europa League for Chelsea in 2013.
“The prize for going through is nothing less than a place in the final of a European competition,” said Benitez.
The second legs will be played a week later and the final itself is in Warsaw on May 27, with a place in next season’s Champions League on offer to the winner for the first time.
Fourth in Serie A and fresh from a 3-0 win over AC Milan, Napoli’s free-scoring football has the Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain as a spearhead and he has seven goals in the competition, backed by a trident of attacking midfielders.
Chief amongst Higuain’s support act is Marek Hamsik, the spikey haired tormentor of Wolfsburg, who were thrashed 4-1 in Germany in the quarter-final first leg, a match that sent a message to all Europa League pretenders.
Little known Dnipro are the former rocket factory side that twice won the old Soviet League and have been a top four side for much of the past 20 seasons in Ukraine.
Benitez said he would pay them every respect.
“Dnipro has already shown their capacity and potential beating teams like Olympiakos, Ajax and Bruges. All of those teams are well known in Europe and have been knocked out by this Ukrainian team,” he said.
Dnipro won 3-0 at Chernomorets in their most recent league game but their coach the 65-year-old Myron Markevych was a worried man ahead of the trip to the San Paulo stadium.
“I had a feeling my players were carrying heavy bags,” he said after watching the weekend win.
Fixtures Today (2005GMT)
Sevilla (ESP) v Fiorentina (ITA)
Napoli (ITA) v Dnipro (UKR)
Rafael Benitez of Napoli.
