Napoli vs Wolfsburg
Napoli are easily expected to progress to the next round of the Europa League following their excellent performances in the first leg at WolfsburgReuters

Napoli and Wolfsburg come face to face in the second leg quarter-finals of the Europa League at the Stadio San Paolo on Thursday.

Napoli are already the favourites to progress to the semi-final of the Europa League, having recorded a comprehensive 4-1 away victory against Wolfsburg in the first leg at the Volkswagen Arena.

This means that the Serie A side will only be knocked out of the Europa League if they lose 0-4 to Wolfsburg in the second leg.

However, that prospect is highly unlikely, considering Napoli have been pretty strong at home this season, losing only two games at the Stadio San Paolo so far.

Although Napoli are again expected to beat Wolfsburg on Thursday following their excellent performances in Germany, manager Rafa Benitez insists that his side will not be taking Dieter Hecking's for granted in the second leg.

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"We know only too well that Wolfsburg are a very good team: they scored four goals against Bayern [in January]," said the former Liverpool boss. "We have to play as well as we did in Germany. Our opponents have formidable forwards and we have to keep an eye on them."

UEFA have announced that this year's Europa League winners will be qualifying for next season's Champions League.

And as Napoli's chances of making a top three finish in the Serie A (Italy has three Champions League spots) this season are pretty low, the Spaniard says that his side are looking to win the Europa League so that they can get a direct entry into next season's Champions League.

"The club, the players and me have the same aim – we want to win, nothing else," the Spaniard told UEFA's official website. "Winning this competition would be significant because it would mean qualification for next season's UEFA Champions League."

Although Benitez is being tipped to take up the reins at Manchester City next season, he has played down these links insisting that he is fully focused "on the task at hand."

"I'm just focused on this club. When I was at Chelsea, I knew they were lining up another coach to replace me, but we still won the UEFA Europa League and finished third in the Premier League. The important thing is to concentrate on the task at hand."

Meanwhile, Wolfsburg will also be hoping to progress to the next round of the competition despite suffering a crushing home defeat against Napoli in the first leg.

Although the Wolves did manage to dominate possession and create a number of chances in the first leg, their finishing was poor and this cost them dearly.

Eventually strikes from Gonzalo Higuaín, Marek Hamsik, Marek Hamsik and Manolo Gabbiadini put Napoli in the driving seat and Wolfsburg were only able to net a late consolation through Nicklas Bendtner.

Still Wolfsburg boss Hecking despite admitting that his side's chances of progressing to the next round of the competition are pretty low, insists they will be giving their best on Thursday.

"Obviously the result in Wolfsburg doesn't give us much room for optimism," the German told UEFA's official website. "We have a few players missing but we have an excellent squad. We are a very good team and we are able to score at any moment against any team. We can do it, but we have to be honest: it's going to be really difficult. We will do our best."

The 50-year-old insists that Wolfsburg need to be perfect and avoid making even "little mistakes" on Thursday.

"We have to avoid even the little mistakes. We can play a good match, but we could pay dearly for any slip-ups," he added.

"We have hope and we will hold onto it until the very last minute. Football is beautiful and it allows miracles to happen; if Napoli aren't so focused and we play particularly well, then why not? Anything is possible."

Expected Lineups:

Napoli: Andujar; Maggio, Albiol, Britos, Ghoulam; López, Inler; Gabbiadini, De Guzman, Mertens; Zapata.

Wolfsburg: Benaglio; Träsch, Knoche, Naldo, Rodriguez; Guilavogui, Luiz Gustavo; Caliguri, Arnold, Perišić; Dost.

Where to Watch Live

The game is scheduled for a 9:05 pm local time (12:35 am IST, 8:05 pm BST, 3:05 pm ET) start, with live coverage on Ten Action in India. The match can also be watched via live streaming online on Ten Sports Live.

Catch the action in the UK live on BT Sport 1 with an option to live stream the match online on BT Sport Player. US viewers can watch the game live on Fox Sports 2 and ESPN 3 or online on Fox Soccer 2Go. Audience in Canada can see the tie via live stream on Sportsnet World.

Viewers in Italy can watch the match live on Premium Calcio, while German viewers can do the same on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2.