Conte: ‘Napoli would be mad not to believe’ in Scudetto triumph

epa11898868 Napoli’s head coach Antonio Conte during the Serie A soccer match between SS Lazio and SSC Napoli at the Olimpico stadium in Rome, Italy, 15 February 2025. EPA-EFE/Riccardo Antimiani

Antonio Conte confirms David Neres ‘will play’ against Milan tomorrow evening and Napoli ‘would be mad not to believe’ in their Scudetto chances this season.

It kicks off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).

The Partenopei lost the top of the table after a run of poor results, managing just one win, five draws and a defeat to Como since the start of February.

Nonetheless, Conte has hope that they can retake the leadership from an Inter side stretched thin in the Champions, Serie A and Coppa Italia.

“We’d be mad not to believe,” said the coach in his press conference.

“We have nine games left to the end of the season, we’re three points off the leaders, who wouldn’t give it some thought?

“Even with all our strengths and weaknesses, we are still up there, a position nobody could’ve imagined at the start of the season. It is therefore only right to believe and give it all we’ve got. We must leave the field with our jerseys soaked through with sweat.

“Only one team can win the Scudetto, but the Champions places are in the balance too. We must always look forward and are only focused on first place.

“The pressure is on those who are in front and are forced to win, or who are fighting to avoid relegation.”

Conte has ‘respect, but no fear’ for Milan

The break for international duty has not been kind to Napoli, who are continuing to struggle with muscular issues.

“Frank Anguissa had an adductor problem with Cameroon, he had two training sessions with us and we’re monitoring the situation carefully,” explained Conte.

“Leonardo Spinazzola is out, he had a knock to the quadricep, while David Neres will play tomorrow, although I cannot say if it’ll be from the start or not.

“Noah Okafor had a problem with his adductors too and was out for two days, he’s a player we need to get back into shape, but he’s struggling with that. We must do our best with the players at our disposal.”

The injury to Neres and departure of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia prompted Conte to change Napoli into a 3-5-2 formation, so could the return of the Brazilian shift the tactics back?

“We have clear ideas and always try to make the best decisions. We are facing a strong team tomorrow, one that was built to win the Scudetto, then in January they brought in more players.

“We need the support of the Stadio Maradona crowd, as there will be moments when we suffer. We have great respect for Milan, but no fear,” continued the coach.

“I think we deserved better in recent weeks than our results would suggest. Unconsciously, results do affect the mentality of the players, and that is a mistake. It is a growth process, we need to recognise those moments we get wrong and work on them.”

There continue to be rumours that Conte could be approached by other Serie A clubs in the summer, including Milan and Juventus.

He was asked how progress is going in the construction of the future Napoli.

“We need to play these last nine games, it could be everything or nothing. We still need to achieve what could be the ultimate objective, or other targets. We must stay focused on the present and be very concentrated.”