Conte: ‘Napoli lacking energy, cumulative effect’ robbed them of sharpness

Antonio Conte concedes decimated Napoli were out of steam in their 2-0 defeat to Benfica. ‘It’s a cumulative effect of so many games, inevitably in the long run we’d pay a price.’

The Partenopei fielded the same starting XI that beat Juventus on Sunday, and that fatigue started to really show in Lisbon.

They seemed sluggish and capitulated 2-0 to goals from Richard Rios and Leandro Barreiro, while the Benfica goalkeeper was rarely troubled by the Napoli forwards.

“The truth is that we weren’t sharp from the very start. Benfica, who had played on Friday compared to us on Sunday after a long run of tough games,” Conte told Sky Sport Italia.

“In those games, we used up a lot of physical and mental energy. I had talked about energy going into this match, because I knew that in the long run we’d pay a price. We struggled today, they were above all at the start more aggressive.

“We wanted to be aggressive, but made a mistake with the press, allowed a dangerous attack, and it scared us. So we were too stretched out in the first half, weren’t aggressive enough in the press, above all behind their midfielders.

“Having said all that, it’s understandable. We knew the difficulties of this match, and when they start to pile up with six in a row every three days, you will inevitably pay a price. Now we get home late tonight, tomorrow the lads have a day off, then on Friday we’ll prepare for another Serie A game.

“The lads were generous, they tried to the very end to give their all, but you could tell they weren’t sharp, weren’t making the right decisions and lacking quality. I cannot reproach them, as they gave everything they had.”

This was a reunion between Conte and Jose Mourinho, as the pair had clashed many times in Serie A and the Premier League.

However, it seemed a relatively relaxed situation on the touchline compared to their usual issues.

“We ran to the end, we tried, but we were like a diesel engine that needed time to get warmed up,” noted Conte.

Napoli’s progress in the Champions League is now in huge doubt, as they have just seven points after six games, and sit on the very edge of the elimination places.

“I had said even after the most recent victory that we were short-staffed and had few options for squad rotation, to rest players. The tempo in Italy has improved considerably lately, but let us not forget Benfica played on Friday and we played on Sunday, then had to travel to Lisbon, so there are many small elements that pile up,” continued Conte.

“It’s a cumulative effect of so many games that in the end weigh on you. I said it after a win too. It’s not over yet either, we’ve got to play again on Sunday, I think we’ll get home at 4am tonight.”

The injury crisis is immense, missing Stanislav Lobotka, Billy Gilmour, Kevin De Bruyne, Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa, Miguel Gutierrez and Romelu Lukaku.

“This is what we’ve got, and I am proud of these lads for giving their all, but you could tell we were lacking that sharpness. The situation isn’t going to improve in future, so we hope to get Lobotka and Gutierrez back soon.

“We still don’t know when Lukaku could get into training with the team, he hasn’t done that yet,” concluded the coach.