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Benitez Hails Napoli Performance in Dortmund Loss
- Sky Sports News, Wednesday, November 27, 2013 2:42 PM
Rafael Benitez hailed his team’s “character” following Napoli’s 3-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park in UEFA Champions League Group F play on Tuesday. Goals from Marco Reus, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang secured a vital three points as well as an aggregate head-to-head win against Napoli that would move Dortmund above the Italian club in the Group F standings should they both finish with the same number of points.
"We played a great game and produced an important performance against one of the strongest teams in the world,” Napoli coach Benitez told the club’s official Web site. "The team showed a lot of character and played at a high level against a very strong rival. Borussia have played under the same coach for six years and they have a solid group that last season came closing to winning the Champions League. For us, there are many positives to take from this game as my players showed grit, character and never gave up."
Benitez’s opposite number, Jurgen Klopp, hailed his team’s defense, which is missing all four of its first-choice defenders. "Napoli was a really good opponent. But our back four was great,” Klopp said. "We had a lot of chances. [Robert] Lewandowski had a great game but missed two really big chances, Miki [Henrikh Mkhitaryan] as well. [Napoli goalkeeper Pepe] Reina showed a good performance."
