Conte reflects on Napoli stalemate: ‘It changes nothing for us’ | OneFootball

Antonio Conte insists that ‘nothing’ has changed for Napoli after their 0-0 draw away against Venezia in Serie A on Sunday, despite missing out on an opportunity to move to the top of the Serie A standings ahead of Inter’s game against third-placed Atalanta later this evening.

You can see how the action unfolded in Venezia 0-0 Napoli on the Football Italia Liveblog.

Three points separate the top three sides in Serie A heading into the direct clash between Atalanta and Inter at the Gewiss Stadium on Sunday night. The Nerazzurri still command the league table, but all three teams will end the day level on points if Atalanta rise to victory.

It could have been Napoli leading the Serie A table before Atalanta-Inter had they beaten Venezia at the Pier Luigi Penzo in the early kick-off, but Conte is not overly disappointed by what he saw from his players.

VENICE, ITALY – MARCH 16: Ionut Radu of Venezia makes a save during the Serie A match between Venezia and Napoli at Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo on March 16, 2025 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images)

Conte: ‘I don’t think Venezia caused Napoli that many problems’

Assessing his side’s performance, he insists that there weren’t too many dangerous situations for his defenders to deal with.

“In football terms, I don’t think they caused us that many problems. Only one team took the initiative and that was Napoli, against a Venezia side that is in good shape and has always caused struggles for opponents,” Conte told DAZN.

“We did what we needed to today, but it’s inevitable that when you have that many chances, you need to score. We made some mistakes to allow them chances and what irritated me a great deal at the end was allowing a counter-attack of two against six. That should never, ever happen, because it means our heads are not in the right place.

“If we had conceded that goal at the end, it would’ve been a very different result to the draw at this stage of the campaign.”

Conte was more disappointed by the condition of the pitch rather than the performance of his players: “We played our game in a difficult arena, on a pitch that had not been wet properly and the ball wasn’t running very well. It’s the first time I’ve seen that this season, I even asked Eusebio if it was their idea not to wet the pitch, he said no, but the ball was moving very slowly.

VENICE, ITALY – MARCH 16: Fali Cande of Venezia defends against Romelu Lukaku of Napoli during the Serie A match between Venezia and Napoli at Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo on March 16, 2025 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images)

“As I said, I am happy with the performance, but when you create those chances, you need to score goals and be more determined. What made me really angry was that incident in stoppages, because I do not accept that, I will not tolerate that and I explained it to the lads in the locker room.

“A team that wins needs to have its mind on the job from the first to the last second on the pitch.”

Napoli will now have a fortnight’s interval before their next Serie A match due to the upcoming international break, but Conte insists that nothing will change in his approach to training during that period.

“There have been other breaks for international duty, so we will do the same thing, work with whoever is left. I can’t imagine it’ll be more than 10, but we’ll try to work and get some players back up to speed physically or tactically. Nothing will change, we continue to work.”

And, on the upcoming battle between Atalanta and Inter, he added: “It changes nothing for us, we just need to focus on ourselves and give our all to the end, the way we did today. Then we’ll see the results of our efforts at the end of the season.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – JANUARY 02: Yann Aurel Bisseck of FC Internazionale battles for possession with Nicolo Zaniolo of Atalanta during the Italian Super Cup Semi-Final match between FC Internazionale and Atalanta at Al Awwal Park on January 02, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Abdullah Ahmed/Getty Images)

“I was very critical where it was necessary, for instance against Como, but today we deserved to win and a draw is fitting too.

“What infuriates me is the need to be a team to the end, not a group who look like they just turned up by accident.”