Antonio Conte was livid along with his Napoli squad after a . ‘It hurts me and it ought to harm my gamers. We have to be indignant with ourselves.’
The Partenopei knew this was a must-win sport, as they had been on degree factors with the Danes stepping into and it was a head-to-head for place to keep away from early elimination from Europe.
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All of it appeared to be going their approach when Thomas Delaney was despatched off simply 35 minutes in for his excessive boot catching Stanislav Lobotka on the knee, an incident that was noticed by VAR after it was initially solely a yellow card.
Scott McTominay’s towering header additionally put Napoli in entrance, however when Alessandro Bastoni gave away a penalty and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic parried it, Jordan Larsson managed to show within the rebound.
Conte bitter after Napoli throw away benefit
UDINE, ITALY – DECEMBER 14: Supervisor of Napoli, Antonio Conte, seems to be on earlier than kick off on the Serie A match between Udinese Calcio and SSC Napoli at Stadio Friuli on December 14, 2025 in Udine, Italy. (Photograph by Timothy Rogers/Getty Pictures)
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“We should be disillusioned,”
“The sport was in the precise situation to win and attain the play-offs. We would have a thousand excuses, however tonight they don’t match, as a result of the match was going so effectively with these circumstances that we needed to win.
“We confirmed for the fourth sport in a row that we wrestle. We had been in complete management, with 11 males towards 10, so even for those who’re lacking 10 gamers and feeling fatigue, you need to win these video games. You simply should.
“There’s disappointment as a result of we didn’t handle it, so evidently our degree proper now just isn’t suited to this competitors. We solely have eight Champions League factors, we’ve acquired to all settle for the blame right here, you’ve acquired to take house the end in a state of affairs like this. There’s not a lot else to say, we simply should be indignant with ourselves, as a result of it was a golden alternative, and maybe we didn’t realise what was at stake.
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“It was like we had been using a motorbike downhill and one way or the other managed to make it go uphill all by ourselves.”
NAPLES, ITALY – NOVEMBER 25: Antonio Conte SSC Napoli head coach earlier than the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Part MD5 match between SSC Napoli and Qarabag FK at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on November 25, 2025 in Naples, Italy. (Photograph by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Pictures)
This implies Napoli will probably crash out of the Champions League utterly subsequent week, except they handle to beat Chelsea.
Earlier than that, additionally they have a vital Serie A showdown with Juventus on Sunday, which may shake up the Scudetto race.
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“It’s the tip of January, we’ll attempt to do our greatest with the gamers at our disposal,” shrugged Conte.
“We should attempt to supply one of the best model of ourselves. We may’ve performed so much higher right this moment, there may be a lot disappointment tonight, as we had every part going our approach and we managed to spoil it. We’ve acquired to replicate on that.
“From tomorrow we’ll begin making ready for Juve, we’ll see if we’ve acquired 11 or 12 gamers out there. What we have to say tonight is we should win the sport, finish of story.”
NAPLES, ITALY – NOVEMBER 04: Antonio Conte SSC Napoli head coach in the course of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Part MD4 match between SSC Napoli and Eintracht Frankfurt at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on November 04, 2025 in Naples, Italy. (Photograph by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Pictures)
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It’s no secret that Napoli have an damage disaster, lacking David Neres, Matteo Politano, Amir Rrahmani, Alex Meret, Kevin De Bruyne, Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa and Billy Gilmour.
Nonetheless, Giovanni Di Lorenzo stated that they got here out with utterly the incorrect perspective for the second half, so why did that occur?
“What I advised the squad was that we had the sport in hand, so it was essential to attain a second and third objective. I’ve been right here many instances, I do know in these video games any incident can occur and you’re then left licking your wounds,” replied Conte.
NAPLES, ITALY – OCTOBER 01: Antonio Conte SSC Napoli head coach in the course of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Part MD2 match between SSC Napoli and Sporting Clube de Portugal at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on October 01, 2025 in Naples, Italy. (Photograph by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Pictures)
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“Properly, it occurred, and now we lick our wounds. It’s disappointing, as a result of for all of the thousand excuses we may have, we had been dominating this match and managed to make it troublesome for ourselves. That’s unhappy, as we work so laborious.
“This has to harass us, as a result of if it doesn’t annoy us, then it means we don’t need to develop and enhance. It’s not attainable to let Copenhagen again into this sport right down to 10 males, understanding the significance of this match. We all know what soccer is like, you need to be fired up and hungry from the primary second to the final, in any other case you threat this.
“It’s a draw that hurts me, and it ought to harm my gamers too.”