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Maurizio Sarri: Napoli's Champions League nights are 'extraordinary'

Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri is hoping to hear the Champions League anthem at the Stadio San Paolo many more times after getting his first taste of the contagious atmosphere there on Wednesday night.

Napoli marked their home debut in the competition this season -- and Sarri's first taste of the Champions League in Naples -- with a 4-2 win over Benfica, and the coach admitted it had been an emotional night.

"My real debut in this competition was in Kiev and you could feel that it was going to be an important game, but there was not an atmosphere like this one there," Sarri told Mediaset television.

"The atmosphere here at the San Paolo in these occasions is extraordinary. When we came out of the tunnel, I already felt different to how I had in Kiev.

"The roar of the fans was infectious and it's something which remains tattooed to your skin."

Each goal Napoli scored saw the noise levels rise further, and Sarri was delighted to see how his whole squad participated in the occasion.

"It's certainly not easy to crush a team like Benfica and we have got to be proud of what we showed here for 70 minutes," Sarri said.

"We should also be proud of something else: I saw [Lorenzo] Insigne run 50 yards to hug [Dries] Mertens after he made it 2-0 and this is a sign of what a great group we have. I'm happy for the lads. They're doing really well."

Sarri was nevertheless unhappy that they conceded two goals late on to take a bit of gloss off the performance.

"If something was meant to happen to wake my team up, then I'd say it came at the right time," Sarri said. "I hope that the lads go home a bit angry because they conceded two goals that they could have avoided."