Rafa Benitez believes Sunday's clash between Napoli and Roma is like a final with second place in Serie A "hanging in the balance".
The Partenopei currently trail Rudi Garcia's men by six points heading into the clash at Stadio San Paolo having played a game more, but they could reduce that gap on the final automatic Champions League qualification spot to three points with a win this weekend.
“It is a fundamental game for us," Benitez told reporters. "We must win this game and will face it the right way, because second place is hanging in the balance. It’s not a final, but we must go into this game as if it were. We must not show fear.
"We have remarkable attacking qualities and we have scored many goals this season, so we have to focus on making the most of our characteristics.
"Roma are having a great campaign, albeit without the strain of European commitments. Both sides are going through a growth process. Next year will be more or less the same, just that we’ll know the tournament and our players better.
"We’ve had a lot of injuries, whereas Roma have the advantage of only playing one game per week."
Though Juventus are runaway leaders in the Scudetto race, Napoli are still in the running for Europa League silverware having reached the last 16 and will face Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia final.
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