Sarri: I’d like final fling with Napoli
MAURIZIO SARRI hopes to avoid former club Napoli until the Final of the Europa League after guiding Chelsea into the last eight.
Sarri’s side thumped Dynamo Kiev on aggregate after Olivier Giroud’s hat-trick inspired their second-leg rout.
The Blues head coach spent three seasons as Napoli manager before replacing fellow Italian Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge last summer. Sarri said: “I’d prefer to face them in the Final. It would mean we are both in the Final and that would make me happy.”
France forward Giroud’s early effort from Willian’s corner set the tone. He swept in his second from Marcos Alonso’s cross before Alonso himself tapped in the third.
Giroud completed his hat-trick with a header and Callum Hudson-Odoi’s placed effort put the gloss on a dominant display by Chelsea.
LAST NIGHT Europa League last 16 2nd legs – Dynamo Kiev 0, Chelsea 5 (agg: 0-8); Salzburg 3, Napoli 1 (agg: 3-4); Krasnodar 1, Valencia 1 (agg: 2-3); Arsenal 3, Rennes 0 (agg: 4-3); Benfica 3, Dinamo Zagreb 0 (Aet, 90mins: 1-0, agg: 3-1); Inter 0, Frankfurt 1 (agg: 0-1); Slavia Prague 4, Sevilla 3 (Aet, 90mins: 2-2, agg: 6-5); Villarreal 2, Zenit 1 (agg: 5-2). FOOTBALL TODAY
(7.45 unless stated) Scottish Championship – Inverness v Ross County (7.05). English League One – Doncaster v Barnsley. English League Two – Newport v Cheltenham. Lowland League – East Stirling v CS Strollers.