Gattuso: "They have the right to massacre me, but I hope they will leave my boys alone"

Napoli players are expected to play a rematch of the elimination stages of the Europa League against Granada on Thursday (20.55). The Spaniards surprised at their stadium (2:0) and thus pushed Gennaro Gattuso towards the club's exit door. Failure at Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples could cost the Italian his job, but he accepts the blame and hopes for better results.

Only one triumph in the last five matches left Gattuso on thin ice. Not to be forgotten, a victory was gained against Juventus, but after the match against the Old Lady, a defeat in the Europa League followed, and then a debacle against Atalanta in Serie A (2:4). It has been speculated for some time that the former Milan player and coach could lose his job.

"Criticism is more than deserved, things are not going in the right direction and the responsibility is mine. They have the right to massacre me, but I hope they will leave my guys alone. We are going through a difficult period, performances are below our capabilities. We are struggling to gain continuity, but aware we are wearing a historical shirt. The first blame to take is mine, as a coach" Gattuso said.

The team from Naples has a difficult task ahead of them, and the pressure is growing.

"Tomorrow there will be no calculations, we will go out on the field to win. It is our duty at the moment. Do I believe that we will advance? Yes, but we have a lot of absences. It will be difficult, but we have to believe. I saw in the eyes of my guys that they also believe, we have to fulfill our duty, and in football, you never know ".

The extent of how much Napoli needs a victory is also shown by the fact that Dries Mertens will be on the bench, even though he has just recovered from the injury, and the question is how much is he able to help the team.

"Dries will be on the bench tomorrow. He is not 100 percent ready, but we decided to call him because the situation is very serious. Tomorrow we will make an assessment and see if we need him. He is currently capable for 10 to 20 minutes. Ghoulam and Koulibaly played against Atalanta and will be ready for Granada as well. We are left without Osimhen, no one has recovered yet, including Demme and Hysaj, who are training on the pitch but are not 100 percent ready. "

Europa League

Round of 32 - second leg

Wednesday

20.00: Tottenham - Wolfsberger (First leg result: 4-1)

Thursday

20.55: Hoffenheim - Molde (3-3)

20.55: Ajax - LOSC Lille (2-1)

20.55: Shakhtar Donetsk - Maccabi Tel-Aviv (2-0)

20.55: Napoli - Granada (0-2)

20.55: Villareal - Salzburg (2-0)

20.55: Rangers - Antwerp (4-3)

20.55: Arsenal - Benfica (1-1)

23.00: PSV - Olympiacos (2-4)

23.00: Leverkusen - Young Boys (3-4)

23.00: Dinamo Zagreb - Krasnodar (3-2)

23.00: Roma - Braga (2-0)

23.00: Leicester - Slavia Praha (0-0)

23.00: Milan - Crvena zvezda (2-2)

23.00: Manchester United - Real Sociedad (4-0)

23.00: Club Brugge - Dynamo Kyiv (1-1)