Online Reporter
INJURY-HIT Napoli must now refocus on the defence of their Italian Serie A football title following their ignominious Champions League elimination, coach Antonio Conte said.
Napoli blew a 2-1 half-time lead that would have been enough to qualify for the competition’s play-offs before losing 3-2 at home to Chelsea on Wednesday.
A slump in form has seen Napoli win just one of their last seven matches in all competitions, and they have dropped to fourth in Serie A, nine points behind leaders Inter Milan, and only hanging onto a Champions League qualification place by one point.
But such are their injury problems – they had only three senior outfield players on the bench against Chelsea – Conte was defiant about his record at the club in the last 18 months.
“Every one of us is doing his best. During this footballing disaster we’ve won a league title and an Italian Supercup in a year-and-a-half, so people need to be careful with their words,” Conte fired back at reporters following their Chelsea defeat.
“Playing without 13 players, many of them important ones, and going toe-to-toe with Chelsea playing a European-level match, that’s the most important thing.
“Despite the difficulties of this season, from the beginning of which we’ve had serious absences, in the end we’re continuing on our journey and growing.”
And Conte has a clear goal in mind, ahead of today’s visit of relegation-threatened Fiorentina.
“It will be a battle to play in the Champions League next year, we need to play well to earn the possibility of being there again,” he added.
It was a chastening night for Italian teams in the Champions League on Wednesday, with none qualifying directly for the last 16 through a top-eight league stage finish.
Inter were close thanks to an impressive 2-0 victory at Dortmund, but now join Juventus and Atalanta in the play-off round.
FIXTURES
Today: Pisa v Sassuolo (4pm), Napoli v Fiorentina (7pm), Cagliari v Verona (9:45pm)
Tomorrow: Torino v Lecce (1:30pm), Como v Atalanta (4pm), Cremonese v Inter Milan (7pm), Parma v Juventus (9:45pm)
Monday: Udinese v Roma (9:45pm)
Tuesday: Bologna v AC Milan (9:45pm) – AFP Sport.
