The Salento-born coach will return to Campania on Monday, November 17, after a few days off coinciding with the international break. In the meantime, training sessions will be led by assistant coach Stellini

Absent. Justified, of course. But absent nonetheless. Antonio Conte was not at Castel Volturno today for the resumption of training. A three-day leave of absence “already planned and agreed upon some time ago with the club,” according to an official statement from Napoli. This time, however, it’s making waves, because it comes after his outburst against the team following the crushing defeat in Bologna and after President Aurelio De Laurentiis had to resort to a lengthy social media post to put an end to rumors of the coach’s alleged resignation. In short, Conte will return to Castel Volturno early next week, when the national team players will also begin trickling back in. In the meantime, he’s enjoying time with his family in Turin, trying to shake off the disappointment he felt when he left the Dall’Ara stadium on Sunday evening.

The club’s stance in recent days has been clear: everyone stands with Conte. Now it’s up to the coach and the players to rediscover that chemistry and that desire to fight together—which has been missing at the start of this season. Because the upcoming stretch of matches will be extremely tough: Atalanta, Roma, and Juventus in the league, plus Qarabag and Benfica in the Champions League. And in between, there’s also the Coppa Italia match against Cagliari. So there’s no more room to “focus only on our own little world” or think we can play “without heart.” Conte is likely recharging his batteries in Turin, so he can return and instill in his players the drive needed to overcome this hurdle. To see Napoli once again as a real team, just like last season.