The coach after the win over Qarabag: “We have a lot of players out, I have to be good at transmitting energy. We hope to have Spinazzola back for Sunday.”

Winning in the Champions League too, to dispel the clouds that had formed after the defeat in Bologna. Antonio Conte is more relaxed, but he doesn’t want to let his guard down. “Tomorrow we’ll enjoy it, then we’ll put our helmets back on because we have Roma on Sunday.” The message is clear at the end of a special evening, as the coach described it after the victory over Qarabag, marking the anniversary of Diego Armando Maradona’s death. “He represented and represents something that is difficult to explain if you are not Neapolitan. We wanted to honor this day, which is still a sad day because it is the fifth anniversary of his death. There was good energy, which we absorbed and then put out there.”

The tests against the Azerbaijanis and, before that, against Atalanta were convincing. So it’s fair to ask what happened in the dressing room. Conte clarified a few things. “Napoli wasn’t dead. It’s not a question of being alive or not alive, but of continuing to work and always giving everything we have. Then you can win games or not, but we know we always have to give our all. It’s a very difficult time in terms of player availability. We had seven players on the bench, including two goalkeepers and two young players, Ambrosino and Vergara. We’ve been going through a very difficult period since the beginning of the year. We have to assume that the players will take the field. If you don’t have them, you have to find different solutions, trying to use almost always the same ones because then the risks increase. We’re moving forward, we’ve played two excellent games. Let’s not forget Qarabag’s results; there are no easy opponents in the Champions League. I was convinced that by maintaining this pace, we would have won the match.“

Energy to transmit—  The coach returned to the concept of energy that he had emphasized after the match at the Dall’Ara. ”It’s too important. I have to be the first to have it because I have to transmit it. In Bologna, I took responsibility because I probably wasn’t conveying what I wanted, so it was my fault. I have to be good at it. The guys have to unleash their energy and be a team, help each other, be willing to suffer and then rejoice together for a single goal. We’ve always done it, and we’ll continue to do it. People often judge based on match results, but I think we’ve been playing catch-up since the start of the year with so many players unavailable. I can control some situations, but I can’t manage the sprain that Gutierrez suffered yesterday during training. It’s a shame because people immediately talk about a crisis without actually seeing what we’re facing.” However, the attitude has changed radically, and the difficulties have ended up bringing the group closer together. “The guys are exceptional. In terms of availability, everyone’s responsibility has increased exponentially because there will be many games that we have to face without a full squad. We hope to have Spinazzola with us on Thursday, so we would have another option in place of the Spaniard,” he concluded.