Napoli v Trabzonspor preview

Knocked out at this stage by Italian opposition last season, Trabzonspor AŞ are heading for another round-of-32 exit after suffering a first-leg mauling by SSC Napoli.

What they say
Napoli coach Rafael Benítez: "We can speak about how Napoli will fare against the other teams left in the UEFA Europa League after the Trabzonspor match. I will select players who showed in training that they deserve it, even if they haven't played a lot this season. They are ready and this is an important chance for them. We have to be responsible – this is a serious match."

Trabzonspor coach Ersun Yanal: "We didn't show our real value in the home game. We were missing a lot of players and we will miss others tomorrow, too. We are having trouble this year with injuries and players being doubtful until the last minute. This is an important match for us because we want to show that we are a different team to what you saw last week."

Previous meetings
• The sides met for the first time in UEFA competition last time out, in what was Napoli's first encounter with Turkish opponents. It was one-way traffic in Trabzon as the visitors were three up inside the first half-hour. Dries Mertens missed a penalty but Duván Zapata rounded off the Napoli performance in added-time to seal a dominant 4-0 win. 

• Trabzonspor have recorded a draw and a defeat in Italy since they beat FC Internazionale Milano 1-0 in a 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stage game – their most celebrated result to date in Italy. They were eliminated by Juventus in last season's UEFA Europa League round of 32.

Form guide
•Napoliare unbeaten in nine European home games (W7 D2) since a shock 3-0 loss to FC Viktoria Plzeň in the 2012/13 round of 32. They have scored three in each of their last three continental home fixtures.

• Trabzonspor went into the first leg having lost all four of their springtime UEFA club competition games to date (2-0 twice v Juventus; 2-1, 4-1 v PSV Eindhoven in 2012).

Trivia and links
• Trabzonspor's Ivorian midfielder Kévin Constant played in Italy with AC Chievo Verona, Genoa CFC and AC Milan. He and Napoli's Giandomenico Mesto were team-mates at Genoa during the 2011/12 season.

• Napoli (1989) are among 11 former UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League winners in the round of 32 along with Tottenham Hotspur FC (1972, 1984), Liverpool FC (1973, 1976, 2001), VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach (1974, 1979), Feyenoord (1975, 2002), PSV Eindhoven (1978), RSC Anderlecht (1983), Inter (1991, 1994, 1998), AFC Ajax (1992), holders Sevilla FC (2006, 2007, 2014) and FC Zenit (2008).

The coaches
• Napoli coach since May 2013, Rafael Benítez won two Spanish titles and the 2003/04 UEFA Cup with Valencia CF, the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League with Liverpool FC and the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League with Chelsea FC. The Spaniard lifted the Coppa Italia in his first Napoli campaign. Benítez could match Giovanni Trapattoni in becoming only the second coach to win the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League for a third time.

• Benítez (Chelsea, 2013) is one of three coaches involved in the round of 32 who have won the UEFA Europa League since the competition took on its current incarnation, along with Zenit's André Villas-Boas (FC Porto, 2011) and Sevilla's Unai Emery (Sevilla, 2014). Benitez is the only coach in the last 32 to have won the UEFA Champions League.

• The attack-minded Ersun Yanal returned for a second spell as Trabzonspor boss in November, replacing former Yugoslavia striker Vahid Halilhodžić. Coach of Turkey from 2004 to 2005, the former MKE Ankaragüçü and Gençlerbirliği SK boss was in charge of the Black Sea club from 2007 to 2009, and more recently led Fenerbahçe SK to the 2013/14 Turkish title only to resign in the summer.