Napoli vs Fiorentina preview - Benitez hoping Napoli bounce back

Napoli coach Rafa Benitez and his players should have determined looks on their faces when they host fellow Champions League hopefuls Fiorentina on Sunday.

The azzurri have been training away from Naples under the club's orders in a bid to rediscover their winning touch after a disappointing stretch.

Napoli lost 1-0 at Roma last weekend to see their winless run extended to five Serie A games and then fell 1-0 at home to Lazio on Wednesday to bow out of the Coppa Italia.

"It's not a punishment," Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis said on his club's official website. "Napoli is a beautiful city and it also offers distractions.

"Right now we need maximum focus and we must remain united.

"We need to rediscover that enthusiasm we appear to have lost and the way we can do it is by being together."

Napoli's hopes of playing in the Champions League next season are fading.

They are sixth in the standings, eight points of adrift of third-place Lazio.

The top three teams will qualify for Europe's elite club competitions.

Napoli are still alive in the Europa League and travel to Germany next week to face Wolfsburg in the first leg of their quarter-final tie.

"We will face the second best team in the Bundesliga," De Laurentiis said. "It's going to be a fascinating game and we must be ready."

Napoli have found the back of the net just once in their last three league games, while Fiorentina claimed a 2-0 win over Sampdoria last weekend to climb to fourth in the standings and move two points above Sunday's opponents.

The Viola also crashed out of the Coppa Italia this week and are looking to move on quickly from that disappointment.

Vincenzo Montella's men fell 3-0 at home to Juventus on Tuesday despite having taken a 2-1 lead in their semi-final first leg.

Fiorentina are unbeaten in their last five matches in Serie A and - like Napoli - they are still alive in the Europa League and play at Dynamo Kiev next week.

Against Napoli, the Viola will be without injured defenders Manuel Pasqual and Stefan Savic, but midfielder Josip Ilicic is to return from suspension.