Lukaku and Politano: ‘Napoli prove strength, not easy to react’

epa11834999 Napoli’s Romelu Lukaku shakes hands with his coach Antonio Conte during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Atalanta BC and SSC Napoli in Bergamo, Italy, 18 January 2025. EPA-EFE/MICHELE MARAVIGLIA

Romelu Lukaku and Matteo Politano feel Napoli ‘proved we are a strong side’ with their exciting 3-2 win away to Atalanta. ‘It was not easy to react after their equaliser.’

The Partenopei lost 3-0 at home when these sides met back in November, but after a thrilling encounter in Bergamo, they took revenge by emerging 3-2 winners this evening.

Politano and Scott McTominay had responded to the Mateo Retegui opener, then Ademola Lookman equalised with a stunning solo effort taking on the entire Napoli defence.

However, Lukaku decided it with a glancing header on the Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa cross, the midfielder’s second assist of the game.

“It was a great performance against a very, very strong team. The 3-0 they won against us stayed in our heads, but we have made a big step up since then and now we need to keep going,” Lukaku told Sky Sport Italia.

“We want to prove that we are a strong side, there is another difficult match coming up next week.”

That is a huge fixture, as Napoli are going to host their old rivals Juventus at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

“It is another test to see where we are right now, because it’s easy to relax after a victory like this, whereas we need to keep focused and try even harder,” concluded Lukaku.

Lukaku and Politano inspire Napoli

This was a particularly remarkable result considering Atalanta had been unbeaten in 15 Serie A rounds, though their last three had been stalemates to see them slip down to third place.

“We proved once again that we have improved so much and we had a great reaction, because it was not easy to turn it around and show the strength to react again after their equaliser,” Politano told Sky Sport Italia.

Napoli are now seven points clear of Atalanta and 16 points better off than at this stage last season. Are they Scudetto favourites or as Antonio Conte says just trying to ‘cause trouble’ for the other clubs?

“We’ll try to do as the coach says and cause trouble until the final round. We know our strength and our opponents are starting to fear us, so we’re pleased about that.”