Conte: ‘Had to calm Napoli anxiety’ and will watch Inter-Juventus | OneFootball

Antonio Conte reveals he had to ‘calm’ Napoli players when anxiety set in against Lecce, while he will be watching Inter-Juventus for the ‘passion’ rather than Scudetto rivalry.

The Partenopei continue their remarkable form with a fifth consecutive victory in all competition, during which they have scored 12 goals and conceded only one.

Having said that, the 1-0 win over Lecce was a tough slog, as Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s first goal was ruled offside and his decider didn’t come until the 73rd minute.

“I have little to reproach the team for today. We had 65 per cent possession, had 24 shots on goal and 16 corner kicks. Lecce did very well to defend in an organised manner, but undoubtedly we attacked them,” Conte told DAZN.

“When you attack and do not break the deadlock, inevitably a little frustration and anxiety sets in. In fact, I had to calm the lads down, because I was convinced that sooner or later we would break through.

“Those of us who have played football, we’d all like to take the lead early, but we know you have to show patience, pass the ball and create the chances to score a goal.

“Lecce’s 6-0 defeat to Fiorentina was an incident after going down to 10 men, they played well against Udinese, Milan and Inter. This is a team with quality and can hurt you on the counter-attack with Krstovic and Banda, so we did well not to allow them much.”

Conte not taking Napoli victory for granted

NAPLES, ITALY – OCTOBER 26: Antonio Conte head coach of Napoli during the Serie A match between Napoli and Lecce at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on October 26, 2024 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

Di Lorenzo thought he had broken the deadlock in the first half, but it was disallowed by VAR because while Gaspar was on the line, goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone was behind the Napoli captain.

People often forget that offside requires two opposition players to be behind the attacker, it’s just that in most situations the goalkeeper’s position is to be taken for granted.

“With the VAR now, you never know whether to celebrate or not,” continued Conte.

“I had seen Gaspar on the line and assumed it was onside, but I hadn’t taken the goalkeeper into account. I didn’t celebrate too much on the goal anyway, because I was well aware this didn’t mean the game was over.”

Conte was asked about the performance from Romelu Lukaku and reacted with irritation at the question specifically about the Belgium international.

“Let us not always focus on individuals, it’s irritating for me and for the players to feel constantly judged.”

As their leadership of Serie A is confirmed, it could even be extended because Inter and Juventus go head-to-head on Sunday. Will Conte be watching his former teams and current Scudetto rivals in action?

“I will watch certainly, because I have such a passion for this sport that I must see a game of this level. We know they are very, very strong teams and we have the utmost respect for them, so we’ll enjoy the game,” insisted Conte.

Napoli have their own showdown with a trip to Milan on Tuesday night, though the Rossoneri have Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders suspended.

“Now our minds are on Milan, certainly a strong team who let us not forget was 22 points clear of Napoli last season and invested heavily on the transfer market.

“We have amassed the points we needed to, now it’s never a walk in the park to play at San Siro, whether it’s against Inter or Milan.”

Milan’s game with Bologna was meant to be today at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT), but was called off due to severe weather warnings in the city.