The coach and the 0-2 defeat at the Olimpico against Lazio: “Neres? Let’s wait… Now we’ll be playing every three days and there are few rotations. Reinforcements? Last year I said ‘Let’s not do any damage’… The club knows… I’m keeping quiet.“

Napoli’s 2026 is off to a good start. Antonio Conte’s team defeated Lazio without losing ground at the top of the table. ”I have to congratulate the team. In such a difficult game, we played at the Olimpico with such technical precision and physical strength, leaving little to our opponents. We were good and prepared. We played a very high-quality game,“ explained the coach with satisfaction. The only sour note is David Neres’ injury, which could lengthen the list of unavailable players. ”We have to wait until tomorrow and understand the extent of the problem with tests. We hope it’s nothing serious, because we’ve been dealing with a lot of absences for quite some time this year.”

The Azzurri confirmed their excellent form with a very solid performance. “When you have time to prepare for games, you try to bring out the best in your players and find the spaces to strike. The interpretation of the game was exceptional. If we had scored one more goal, no one would have cried scandal. Perhaps this is what we are lacking a little in attack; we could be more clinical. But we are doing very well, and I am really happy because, despite all the absences and with limited resources, few people would have thought we could achieve such important things,” continued Conte. Now, however, the situation is becoming more complicated because the number of games in quick succession will increase. “We are achieving significant victories with high quality. We must continue like this. I know it won’t be easy because we will be playing every three days and there are few substitutes, but we hope we won’t pay the price for it.”

Transfer market—  January is the month of the winter transfer market, but Conte doesn’t want to hear about it. “I’m not touching this subject. Last year, I said, ‘Let’s not do any damage,’ and we sold Kvaratskhelia. The management knows my thinking. Everyone can see what we are doing and with whom. Everyone knows the recovery times of the unavailable players. Then I’m the coach and I have to get the best out of the resources I have. The demands on me are always very high, so the whole team and I will always do our best,” he concluded.