Conte: ‘Extraordinary Napoli fills me with pride’

Antonio Conte was grateful for the ‘extraordinary’ efforts of his Napoli squad during an injury crisis to beat Juventus. ‘It fills me with pride, I remain stunned by these lads.’

The Partenopei largely dominated the match and Juve scored with their only genuine shot on target, a Kenan Yildiz strike from a tricky angle.

Instead, Rasmus Hojlund bagged a brace to secure their 2-1 victory at the Stadio Maradona, ending his goal drought that had lasted for two months in all competition.

“The players deserve all the compliments, we can only thank them as in a moment of extreme difficulty and with so few available, we are doing incredible things,” Conte told DAZN Italia.

“Everyone who plays steps up with great character and sense of responsibility. These lads have improved so much in that sense, and it fills me with pride, because they felt what we are doing, understood the difficulty of the moment, and gave remarkable responses.”

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Scott McTominay kept coming over for treatment in the first half, but grit his teeth and remained on the pitch to the bitter end.

“Scott and the others are doing something extraordinary, just in taking responsibility and pushing on. I thought Eljif Elmas, in his first Serie A start in midfield, was remarkable, as he had played only in the Coppa Italia there and otherwise in a Number 10 role,” explained Conte.

“Lobotka fortunately only has a small issue, so we think 10-15 days to get him back, it could’ve been worse. I had rested him against Cagliari to avoid problems, and then he felt this twinge in the warm-up. Within the difficulties, we are finding solutions, and I want to give credit to my staff and the players. You can feel the right spirit, unity and desire to stick together in this tough moment.

“We’ve got to find the right path and stick to it. I can only say thank you, thank you, thank you again to these lads.”

This result also means that Napoli end 2025 unbeaten in Serie A at home, something they had not experienced since 1987.

Juventus have also lost their last seven consecutive league trips to Naples.

“Every game has different phases, and if we can press high, then we have to do it, as we avoid sitting deep and losing our reference points. I believe that defending by pushing forward ultimately avoids risks, as there were only two shots on target today from Juve,” added Conte.

“We had great energy and tactical rigor, but also some impressive moves that we prepared on the training ground.”

Napoli have now won a series of head-to-head battles to stay at the top of the table, beating Roma and Inter, despite going through an epic injury crisis.

“We played Atalanta, Roma and Juventus, all very strong opponents, in an emergency situation and won them all. I remain stunned by the enthusiasm and energy the lads are putting into the game,” noted Conte.

“Now we’ve got to rest, as we have two days and then we’re in Portugal against Benfica in the Champions League. We’ve got to try to prepare it as best we can in front of the whiteboard, because these lads need a break physically to recover.”