Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti took aim at the press after their 6-1 thrashing of Sassuolo.

Dries Mertens and Victor Osimhen both struck twice in the rout.

"Being almost mathematically certain of Champions League football with three rounds to spare was not an easy target. Having said that, there are some regrets," said Spalletti.

“We did get some great victories in difficult games and those must be balanced with those matches where we weren't up to our potential.

“I was the one who talked about the Scudetto to raise the bar for the lads, but winning a game in today's atmosphere, with part of the crowd protesting, is something that disappoints me considering all the players have done this season.

“It almost feels like it's a success to be where Roma, Atalanta or Lazio are, whereas Napoli are treated as a failure, but that is not the case. It's disappointing this game is being played at our expense, creating expectations and declaring insufficient results."

He added: “Journalists who have no ideas and no quality in their writing decide to fill up space they will go back to dig up dirt from years ago, back to Francesco Totti, Mauro Icardi and who knows what else. They even create hypothetical rows in the dressing room, anything to fill up the space.

“I see bad faith in some of the reporting around me and Napoli. You are trying to obscure the great result of Champions League qualification by making it all about the Scudetto.

“It's true we dropped points against Empoli, but just as true that we won where Napoli had not won for years. The team did not deserve to play in this atmosphere.

“I have no regrets, the team did what it needed to and achieved a great result."