MILAN (AP) – Napoli’s players have made life difficult for themselves and face an uphill battle in Europe and at home.
Manager Antonio Conte was furious that Napoli were able to do just that. Draw with Copenhagen 10-a-side On Tuesday, he said he and his players should be “angry and disappointed” in themselves, leaving them on the brink of Champions League elimination.
“We all have to put our hands up. There’s little to talk about. We’re just very, very angry at ourselves,” Conte said. “Maybe we didn’t realize the importance of what was at stake.
“It felt like we were running a downhill race, and we managed to get uphill on our own.”
Napoli’s injury problems Although their form continued to improve, Conte said his team still could have beaten Copenhagen, especially with the man advantage for most of the match.
Napoli are likely to be completely eliminated from the Champions League next week unless they win against Chelsea.
Before that, they have a difficult match against Juventus on Sunday as they want to avoid falling further behind in the Serie A title race.
After last weekend’s games, Napoli had fallen to third place, six points behind league leaders Inter Milan. Victory over Sassuolo Ended a three-game losing streak.
The defending champions are just four points behind fifth place Juventus.
major matches
Both managers will face their former teams in the match in Turin.
Spalletti leaves Napoli He returned in 2023 after leading the club to their first league title in 33 years, but said at the time that he needed a year off. However, just three months later, he was appointed deputy minister. Italy’s new manager After Roberto Mancini suddenly resigned.
Spalletti was fired from the Italian national team in June. juventus hired him In October, after the Bianconeri manager fired Igor Tudor due to a slow start to the season.
Conte played for Juventus for 13 years and led the team to three consecutive championships as manager from 2011 to 2014.
Napoli beat Juventus 2-1 At home 7 weeks ago.
By the time the teams kick off in Turin on Friday, Inter could be nine points clear of Napoli, with relegation-threatened Pisa at home to the Nerazzurri.
Second-placed AC Milan travel to Rome on Sunday for another interesting battle. Milan are three points below Inter and four points above fourth-placed Roma.
Featured players
Donyell Mullen had a dream debut He joined Roma last week, scoring just two days after joining on loan from Aston Villa.
new AC Milan sign Niklas Furkurg He also scored the only goal in the team’s win over Lecce three minutes after coming on as a substitute, and will be aiming for a place in the starting lineup.
Activity suspended
Napoli’s latest additions include winger Matteo Politano and defender Amir Rahmani, who have been sidelined with injuries. They were joined by David Nelles. kevin de bruyne, frank anguissaBilly Gilmore and Alex Merrett in the treatment room.
Milan winger Alexis Saelemaekers has injured his adductor muscle and his availability for the game against Roma is a big doubt.
off the field
Roma and Fiorentina supporters have been banned from attending away games in Italy for the remainder of the season.
The Interior Ministry issued the ban after a clash on the side of a motorway between Roma fans heading to their team’s match in Turin and Fiorentina supporters heading to Bologna on Sunday.
More than 200 fans attended.
The ruling also referred to incidents of violence involving club fans in Italy and abroad.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
