Napoli coach Antonio Conte has never lacked confidence. The decorated 55-year-old manager has lofty expectations for his first season under Mount Vesuvius.
During his pre-match conference ahead of Saturday’s derby clash against Juventus, the new Napoli manager underlined his ambition to steer the Partenopei back into the Scudetto frame. Conte sees last season’s 10th-place finish as a significant blow for a club of Napoli’s stature and pledges to bridge a 40-point gap on defending champions Inter this term.
“We hope it can be a challenge that counts for something, both for them and for us, today it is too early to say. We start on two different levels, compared to last year there are 18 points to recover, but surely both will want revenge,” the new Napoli boss said, as reported by Calciomercato.
“I don’t think a team like Juventus can be satisfied with finishing third and at a sidereal distance from Inter, we can’t think of finishing 20 points behind them and Milan and 40 from Inter.”
Despite a 3-0 loss to Hellas Verona at the start of his Napoli reign, Conte has lived up to his words thus far. His men enter this weekend’s derby on a three-game winning league run for the first time since February 2023 after a 4-0 mauling of Cagliari last weekend.
However, Conte’s sternest test has yet to come. Juventus have been in formidable form under Thiago Motta. They’ve been so good that Napoli will bid to become the first Serie A team to score against the Bianconeri this season.
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