Napoli validated their status as the competition's most prolific side as they pulverised Midtyjlland at the San Paolo to seal their place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League.

Omar El Kaddouri began the rout on 12 minutes before Manolo Gabbiadini grabbed a brace before half-time. Christian Maggio added a fourth minutes after the restart before Jose Callejon came off the bench to compound the visitors misery and net the Partenopei's 16th goal of the competition thus far.

A blistering start

Within 90 seconds Napoli almost fashioned an opener when El Kaddouri was released behind the Midtjylland defender but, under significant duress from Filip Novak, the forward fluffed his lines.

Napoli, though, fielding a side comprising mostly second-string players, started brightly and it was a regular under Maurizio Sarri, Lorenzo Insigne, who was proving a handful for the visitors.

The pint-sized midfielder shimmied inside moments later, releasing a goal bound effort, but his strike flew inches wide of Mikkel Andersen's far post.

Napoli continued to probe and were duly rewarded when El Kaddouri atoned for his earlier miss with the game still in its infancy.

Insigne, 24, who was jettisoned for the trip to Genoa at the weekend, liberated the Moroccan with a sumptous reverse pass and El Kaddouri, making his first start of the season, blasted his effort under Midtjylland's No.1 to underline the Partenopei’s superiority.

Minutes later, Gabbiadini profited from Insigne’s innovation when he met the Italian’s cross after a clever dart into the penalty area, though his header flew wide.

The visitors’ forays were intermittent, though Paul Onuachu, spearheading the Danish outfit's attacks, was proving a useful outlet.

Napoli soon doubled their advantage on 22 minutes when Gabbiadini swept home Insigne’s rebound with consummate ease. The parallels with last month’s reverse fixture, when the Italian side found themselves 3-0 up at the interval, were already being drawn.

Few could bemoan Midtylland’s reticence as Sarri’s side tried to press home their advantage. 

Sumptuous, though, was the interchange between Insigne and Marek Hamsik on the half hour mark. The Slovakian may have overhit the subsequent delivery but the move perhaps synopsised Napoli’s hegemony.

Napoli rub salt into the wounds

It soon became a matter of damage limitation for Jess Thorup's side when Gabbiadini, who dispatched Napoli’s second of the evening just 15 minutes earlier, all but sealed Napoli’s progression. Again, it was Insigne who instigated the move and, after neither El Kaddouri nor David Lopez could bring the ball under control from Ivan Strinic’s cross, the ball dropped perfectly for the ex-Sampdoria man to smash his effort beyond Andersen between the sticks.

Thorup introduced Marco Urena after the break in an attempt to inject at least a modicum of zest into a hitherto anaemic Midtyjlland attack. 

But it was a cute piece of link-up play from Onuacha and Kristofer Olsson, formerly of Arsenal, that engendered the visitors’ most threatening chance of the night. The burly forward nodded down into the Swede’s path but Pepe Reina was out swiftly to foil the midfielder as he shaped to shoot.

Olsson would be left to rue that miss when Maggio, scorer of a total of two European goals heading into this evening’s clash, compounded the Danish side’s misery. Bursting forward, the full-back strode into the penalty area unchallenged and slid his effort beyond Andersen and in-off the far post.

Sarri later sent for Callejon and Elseid Hysaj with Sunday’s visit of Udinese in mind and the former soon netted Napoli’s fifth, rising highest, unmarked, from Mirko Valdifiori’s corner to exacerbate the visitors trip.

The Spaniard very nearly added a sixth with three minutes remaining but it mattered little. 

A truly chastening experience for the visitors, who suffered their heaviest defeat on European soil, but a display that gives credence to suggestions that Napoli may well lift the trophy in five months time.