Rafael Benitez has paid tribute to his Napoli charges for their "spectacular" 4-1 Europa League win away to in-form Wolfsburg.

Goals from Gonzalo Higuain and a brace from Marek Hamsik helped the Partenopei into a commanding three-goal lead by the 64-minute mark in Germany last night.

Manolo Gabbiadini later added a fourth, before Nicklas Bendter threw his team the slimmest of lifelines in Naples with an 80th-minute consolation.

Benitez, a two-time winner of the competition with Valencia in 2004 and Chelsea in 2012, told Mediaset: "It was a spectacular performance. I've said for a long time this squad has quality, character and professionalism, all of which were on show tonight.

"Tonight we combined the performance with the result, showing players who work for each other and this attitude can make the difference. We played against the second best team in the Bundesliga and these players deserve credit. For the performance and result, it was an excellent game, but I don't know if it was our best of the season.

"We still lack experience to control the match and not concede goals. We work on tactics, but can still improve."

The second leg takes place at Stadio San Paolo next Thursday.