The Napoli coach spoke on the eve of the Champions League match in Denmark: “We are trying to focus on who is available and always find solutions. We are trying to hold on, these are strange times.”
Injuries are taking their toll, and the fact that Napoli have lost every away game in the Champions League so far doesn’t help. Yet Antonio Conte faced the press conference on the eve of tomorrow evening’s match against Copenhagen with confidence. “I’ve been clear with the lads: let’s try to focus on who we have and always find solutions. We’ve done that over the last two days, and we hope to bring what we’ve tried to the pitch. We will make a few changes because we lost Politano and Rahmani in the last game, and Neres is still struggling with his ankle problem. So let’s focus on ourselves and play to our strengths.”
Copenhagen haven’t played a competitive game since December 7, but that won’t be an advantage for the Salento-born coach: “We’re focused on ourselves and not thinking about our opponents. We’ve had a grueling schedule and are playing every three days: whoever draws up the calendar should take a look at their conscience because the players are under a lot of physical and mental stress. We’ll be facing a formidable team that does well at home. Our fans will give us a big hand. My feelings for tomorrow? They are positive because I have a group that responds well in difficult situations, which are, however, increasing. I was hoping they would decrease… I have great faith in my players, and we have studied Copenhagen. We know that we are playing for something important, and we will do so with our game plan. We will not come here with our heads down: we will hold our heads high and play to our strengths, believing that we can win the game. With actions, not words.
TRANSFER MARKET— Here we are talking about the transfer market and the reinforcements requested by his assistant Stellini at the press conference: “On the eve of an important game for us, I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about things outside of the game against Copenhagen. We are in tune with the club and we have the same views: we know what we need to face the second half of the season. But now let’s focus on the match and channel all our energy into that.“ Conte will return to the bench after watching two games from the stands: ”Not being on the bench bothers me a lot because it breaks the connection between me and the boys during the game: it’s one thing to give instructions from the sidelines, but it’s another to make your presence felt in the good times and, above all, the bad times. The boys have done well to make up for my absence. Vergara, Ambrosino, and Marianucci must be ready: playing one match for Napoli is like playing thirty in Serie B. They are ready to lend a hand.“ Then on Hojlund: ”I can only speak highly of him: he is a good guy, he is 22 years old and can improve a lot even though he has already learned how to use his body, how to help the team, and many other things. He is humble and will grow a lot in the future. And he’s lucky because he can work with fantastic players like Lukaku who will help him.“
HOJLUND— The Danish striker, a former player, spoke alongside Conte at the press conference: ”It’s nice to be back here because this stadium is warm and I have great memories. It will be important to win to take an important step forward in the standings: we all want to move forward in the Champions League. We’ve been a bit unlucky with injuries, but we remain a strong group. Lukaku’s return? He’s strong and will help us a lot. We can also play together.“ Final thoughts on Copenhagen: ”They’re coming off a month-long break, while we have a lot of absences due to injuries. We’ll have to be ready because the Danes won’t give us any gifts. We want to win.”
