Conte and Spalletti clash for the first time: How they managed to avoid each other

Antonio Conte and Luciano Spalletti are set to face off for the first time in their careers when Napoli host Juventus at the Stadio Maradona on Sunday evening, but how have the coaches managed to avoid each other so far? 

Sunday’s Serie A headliner is a thriller between Napoli and Juventus: The Partenopei will move back to the top of the table if they claim victory this evening, while the Bianconeri require three points to match the pace of the rest of the teams involved in the early Champions League race. 

Both sides have their injury concerns to contend with. Napoli are without four key midfielders in Kevin De Bruyne, Stanislav Lobotka, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Billy Gilmour, while Juventus are without Dusan Vlahovic plus several first-team defenders in Federico Gatti, Bremer and Daniele Rugani. 

Bizarrely, this will be the first time that Conte and Spalletti have played against each other as head coaches. 

That is because Conte began his coaching career in Serie B with Arezzo and Bari between 2006 and 2009, while Spalletti was in charge of Roma in Serie A. 

Spalletti then spent five years in Russia as head coach of Zenit St. Petersburg between 2009 and 2014, which is why he never faced off against Conte while he was in charge of Atalanta, Siena or Juventus. 

Conte would then go on to take charge of the Italy national team between 2014 and 2016, before going on to coach Chelsea for two years between 2016 and 2018, which is why he did not play against Spalletti during his second stint in charge of Roma in 2016-17. 

Spalletti’s next job was as the head coach of Inter from 2017 to 2019, where he was replaced by Conte, who led the Nerazzurri from 2019 to 2021. 

Conte would then go on to take over as head coach of Tottenham Hotspur in 2021, lasting until 2023, while Spalletti headed south to take charge of Napoli during the same time period. 

Spalletti was then named head coach of the Italy national team in the summer of 2023, lasting two years until 2025, which is why has not met Conte at club level over the past two seasons. 

And now in 2025-26, Spalletti and Conte get their historic first meeting against each other in a major clash in the race for the Serie A title and Champions League positions.