Monza lost 4-1 to Napoli, with Ivan Juric saying afterwards that his side were positive until they started gifting goals.
How the match unfolded
Rasmus Hojlund opened the scoring. Varela got Monza's goal with a glancing header on a Jay Robinson cross.
After the restart, Matteo Politano, Rafa Marin and Kevin De Bruyne scored as Napoli completed the 4-1 result.
Juric's verdict
Juric told Sky Sport Italia: "The first half performance was excellent and perhaps we deserved even more than being at 1-1. We had also started the second half quite well, but then started to gift goals. Sometimes we forget to do the practical things, but the first half remains very good."
He added: "It is a result that hurts, but I did see many things we can work on and improve."
Varela's numbers and Juric's view
Varela has scored eight goals in eight Serie A appearances, plus two in his only Coppa Italia match.
Juric said: "He’s a talented player and has real margin for improvement. He is working every day to get stronger, and I hope he continues like this, stays humble, and then he will certainly go far."
Football Italia report
Football Italia said reports of a January swoop from some Premier League clubs for Gustavo Varela are already being prompted. Football Italia also said Monza paid just €2.5m to buy Gustavo Varela from Benfica in July.
