Dominant Napoli leave Mertens delighted

A sentiment of immense satisfaction reigned for SSC Napoli's players as they reflected on an excellent 2-1 success at Olympique de Marseille that lifted them level at the top of Group F with Arsenal FC and Borussia Dortmund. Making his first ever UEFA Champions League start, the Partenopei's stand-out player Dries Mertens was particularly pleased by the way his team "controlled the game", while Marseille midfielder Benoît Cheyrou admitted the visitors had been "a notch above".

Dries Mertens, Napoli forward
We wanted to win. It's important to get six points [against Marseille], starting here and then at home. After that we'll see, because Arsenal and Dortmund are great teams. They won't drop many points, so we have to pick them up where we can.

The wind was difficult, but the first half was good for us. We played good football. Marseille are a fine team – they have [Mathieu] Valbuena, who can always do something. But we dominated them, especially in the first half. We were stronger than them and deserved this victory. We spoke a lot about Marseille but we controlled the game. Even so, they brought it back to 2-1 and it was tough for us at the end, but we played a good game.

It was my first start. I played in the other two games, but I was a starter here and I'm happy with my performance. [Lorenzo] Insigne and I can play together; he can play on the right or as a No10, so I'm not really in direct competition with him. But I want to play. It was difficult at the start as I'd just changed teams, but now I feel good and the coach has noticed that.

Valon Behrami, Napoli midfielder
We put in a great performance tonight. From the first minute, we played really well. We created a lot of chances and missed a lot as well. In the last ten minutes they had some chances, but fortunately we won the game and I think we deserved it.

There was a gap [between the teams] and we could have made the gap even greater. It was only in the last ten minutes that we had some difficulties and that they were dangerous. These two games for us are very important in terms of qualification. We know the group is very tough and it's going to be very interesting for the next game.

André Ayew, Marseille forward
It's another defeat. There's nothing to say. There's no point repeating the same things. We have to forget this and win on Saturday against Reims. It's looking very difficult to finish second, but perhaps we can still take third. We have to stop thinking about the Champions League, though. We have two games before our next Champions League match and we have to win those and see what happens after.

I'm very disappointed. We need to go home, calmly get over this loss and think about the future. We have to lift our heads up again. The way we played in the second half tonight is the way we need to play in the first half of games as well.

We all have to face in the same direction and show more determination and more desire to play and fight. I'm not worried. When you look at how we ended the match and our second half, there's no reason to be worried. But there's the question of results as well, and that was our fourth defeat in a row.

Benoît Cheyrou, Marseille midfielder
It's a little too early to analyse the standings after this game, but the feeling that dominates is disappointment after another loss. It just shows that we're a level beneath the other teams. Napoli are a very good side who are in contention to win the league in their home country, like Arsenal and Dortmund, so they're a notch above us.

We played better in the second half than in the first and we had chances, but they put theirs away. At the highest level, that makes the difference and it showed that we still have work to do to improve. When you look at the result and the gap between ourselves and these very good teams, we know the road we have to take. We have to stay humble and work to reduce the gap as quickly and as much as possible. It's a difficult period for us, but we have to stay united.