City cannot take Napoli lightly, says Pep

PEP GUARDIOLA has said Manchester City would be “stupid” to expect an easy outing against Napoli in the Champions League tonight just because they thumped Stoke City 7-2 in the Premier League over the weekend.

Napoli top the Serie A table with eight wins from as many games and sit third in Group F in the Champions League behind leaders City and Shakhtar Donetsk after a 2-1 opening loss to the Ukrainian side and a 3-1 win over Feyenoord.

“Of course, if they think that, they will be stupid,” Guardiolasaid. “That isn’t going to happen.

“I am going to show Napoli to my players – how good they are. Napoli can kill you with high pressing. They are able to press our keeper. I’m very happy to have the opportunity to play this kind of game.”

Meanwhile Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane heaped praise on Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane ahead of today's clash between the sides which will be an acid test for the prolific England striker.

Kane leads the scoring charts in Europe’s elite competition with five goals.

Kane, who has also six strikes in the Premier League and has scored 13 times in his last nine matches for club and country, has been the focus of media attention before today’s clash.

“He is a fundamental player for Tottenham, he is very good in every aspect, but the best thing about him is that he’s always got the goal on his mind,” Zidane told a news conference on Monday.

“He’s a very complete player even though he does not look it, but he always turns up when he needs to.”

Zidane ducked a question on whether he would like to sign Kane for Real Madrid, who are short of strikers after selling Alvaro Morata to Chelsea.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future,” he said.

Spur’s Spanish striker Fernando Llorente, meanwhile, warned Real about the threat his teammate poses.

“We have great players who are capable of playing very good football and we have Harry Kane, who at the moment is turning everything he touches into a goal,” Llorente said. – Reuters