Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti insists he has never considered resigning during his 30-year managerial career and did not think of quitting in the wake of the turmoil affecting the Serie A club.
Italian media refer to a civil war which is currently crippling Liverpool's Champions League opponents with president Aurelio De Laurentiis reportedly fining every player 25 per cent of their monthly salary after they refused to attend a squad training retreat earlier this month.
Napoli's press officer made a statement before their pre-match conference at Anfield explaining the club had refused to speak to the press in recent weeks but would "make an exception" for the Champions League.
It led to a number of searching questions, including Ancelotti being asked outright whether he had considered resigning."It's not something I've ever done," said the 60-year-old.
"I guess when things that need to be evaluated and assessed, the confidence and trust the club has expressed its faith in me I think, the players have faith as well.
"But if you don't have faith and trust and confidence from the players and club you might think about resigning, but I've never thought about that.
"Perhaps if the club doesn't trust me and doesn't have confidence then I might think about it or if the players don't trust me I might think about it but that's never happened to me, I've never picked up on that kind of signal, it's never happened in 30-odd years and it's not happening now.
"It's a fleeting moment, it's happening at the moment. There are lots of issues that we will emerge from. You always have issues if you work with other people; you can agree in some moments and other moments you don't agree.
"Basically you have to have this unity of intent and that's what we have and that's what will help us get us out of the situation."
Earlier in the day Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was asked what advice he could give Ancelotti over the current crisis.
Klopp said Ancelotti was the one manager who did not need guidance from anyone but the Italian disagreed, saying: "I can say that he is one of the few people I would accept advice from, absolutely!"
Napoli, who 11 months ago suffered disappointment at Anfield when they missed out on the knockout stage with a 1-0 defeat in their final group match, could qualify for with a game to spare if Red Bull Salzburg fail to beat Genk. That has given Ancelotti some breathing space.
"Unlike what happened last year when we only had one possibility available to us, we needed to win on that particular occasion, this year given we have been doing pretty well this far, we can either quality tomorrow or if necessary at the end of the final game," he added.
"The team knows it needs to do better. The club needs to do better and is aware of that. The manager needs to do better and is aware of that as well."
