Conte: ‘Napoli extraordinary and we will try to defend Scudetto’
Antonio Conte feels Napoli beating Milan to take second place during an injury crisis is ‘extraordinary,’ but while they must be ‘realistic,’ this team still ‘wants to defend the Scudetto to the end.’
This was a massive showdown for second place and the opportunity to keep up the pressure on leaders Inter, and it really did not start in the best way for the Partenopei.
Rasmus Hojlund came down with a stomach bug overnight and was ruled out of the squad, so with Romelu Lukaku, David Neres, Antonio Vergara, Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Amir Rrahmani injured, Conte had to give January signing Giovane his first start as a makeshift centre-forward.
It was a substitute who decided the match, Matteo Politano volleying in a poor Koni De Winter clearance at the back post at the 79th minute.
Conte thanks decimated Napoli
“This victory gives us a great deal of enthusiasm and confidence, because we must never forget that if we are up there in second place, it is thanks to those lads who covered for all the absences we dealt with this season,” Conte told DAZN Italia.
“Hojlund was missing today, but we haven’t had Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Neres and Vergara for a while either, so that’s five players who are almost all regular starters. It’s extraordinary that the team has stayed up there despite these absences.
“Any other side would’ve fallen apart and lost its fight. I think of Elmas, who came on for the final 15 minutes, he was a key player during the many absences. Mazzocchi, Beukema, they were protagonists over the season.
“That was extraordinary, not what we saw this evening. It’s inevitable that the more players we get fit, the more we have choices and the more we can rotate to keep everyone fresh.”
The news only started to filter through in the afternoon that Hojlund not only might not be in the starting XI, but wasn’t even ready for a spot on the bench.
“This morning the doctor greeted me with this marvellous news that Hojlund had a fever and was vomiting, so I had to change plans, Giovane gave a good response,” explained Conte.
“I am eager during a moment of joy now that we are in second place to thank those lads who stepped up during a tragic sporting situation that could’ve ended badly. They gave a great response, we are starting to get players back, Rrahmani and Giovanni are on track. We hope Neres and Vergara can recover before the end of the season.”
Politano was in part on the bench because he was involved in Italy’s failed World Cup play-off campaign, starting against both Northern Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I was joking with Politano today that I had predicted he’d come on and make the difference when Milan were more tired, in an area of the pitch where they’d attack us more,” revealed Conte.
“I am very glad for Matteo, who scored his second goal of the season. Alisson Santos was important too as a substitute.”
This result means Napoli leapfrog Milan into second place and are seven points behind leaders Inter, who crushed Roma 5-2 last night.
“Now we have to keep going, because there are seven rounds to go and we took an important step towards the Champions League, which is our objective,” added Conte.
“If Milan can say the Champions League is their target, why shouldn’t it be Napoli’s? Juventus say the same too, Napoli won the Supercoppa, but people seem to expect even more from us than these clubs.
“Now we must try to stay up there and defend this position. We know Inter deserve to be first in the table, we are there, and must focus on ourselves.”
More might be expected because Napoli are the reigning Champions of Italy and won two of the last three Serie A titles, even if both times their coaches tried to depict them as sporting miracles.
How much does Conte believe in the possibility of a second consecutive Napoli Scudetto?
“We’ve got to be realistic here. We would need to not make a single mistake, and at the same time hope that Inter slip up more than once. Seeing what Inter have done so far, that seems improbable. They are a very strong squad, they deserve all they are doing, and we must try to just keep our foot on the gas.
“We want to defend the Scudetto to the very end, which we hadn’t been able to do for many months, but now we’ve been able to take back control of our history, our destiny, and we want to keep going, without making proclamations.
“The Champions League spot still needs to be locked down, and it is by no means achieved yet. That truly is a fundamental objective, because everyone knows the financial benefits that brings,” concluded Conte.
