Yaya Toure 'worried' San Paolo support will inspire Napoli players
Napoli hosts Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday in a match it must win, and Yaya Toure expects its fans to be noisy.
Published : Oct 31, 2017 17:59 IST
Yaya Toure conceded he is "worried" about how Napoli's partisan crowd might fire up the team's players in Wednesday's Champions League clash with Manchester City.
The Premier League pacesetter beat Napoli 2-1 at Etihad Stadium on October 17, but Napoli showed plenty to suggest it will be an even tougher opponent on home soil.
City has started the season well, but so have Maurizio Sarri's men, as they sit top of Serie A with 31 points after 11 matches, and are playing some of the most eye-catching football in Europe.
Read: City can win Champions League, says Sarri
But in the Champions League, Napoli has just three points from as many matches, compared to City's haul of nine, meaning the game will take on extra importance for the host.
And Toure is expecting the home fans to create a hostile atmosphere for City, the midfielder having been involved when City went to Naples and lost 2-1 in November 2011.
"The thing that impressed me most was the crowd," Toure told Gazzetta dello Sport .
"The San Paolo is a stadium which doesn't leave you indifferent, even as an opponent. Support like Napoli's strengthens a team.
"As a City player I'm not intimidated by it, but I'm worried by the way it fires-up the home team. In times of difficulty, fans like the ones in Naples can be decisive.
"This is an important game for us, which we must face with the right attitude. The atmosphere at San Paolo is an added problem."
Toure has regularly been linked with moves away from City in recent years, particularly to Italian clubs, and he did not rule out potentially heading to Serie A in future.
"I've had several contacts with Italian football in the past," he said. "But then I followed different and important paths like Barcelona and Manchester City. But never say never in life."