Napoli manager Antonio Conte was left incandescent with rage at the punishing fixture schedule after his depleted side suffered a heartbreaking Champions League exit on Wednesday night. The reigning Italian champions crashed out of Europe's elite competition following a pulsating 3-2 home defeat to Chelsea, a result that extinguished their hopes of securing a play-off spot.
A Night of High Drama and Ultimate Disappointment
Heading into the final, congested matchday of the league phase, Napoli knew only a victory would potentially keep their Champions League ambitions alive. The match began brightly for the hosts, who fought back from an early deficit. Chelsea had taken the lead via an Enzo Fernandez penalty, but Napoli responded with Antonio Vergara's first goal for the club and a strike from Rasmus Hojlund to lead 2-1 at the interval.
The second half, however, brought crushing disappointment. Chelsea's Joao Pedro emerged as the hero for the visitors, scoring twice to complete a remarkable turnaround and secure a 3-2 victory that sent Liam Rosenior's side directly into the last-16. The defeat consigned Napoli to a 30th-place finish in the overall standings, a bitter pill to swallow for a squad boasting former Premier League talents like Scott McTominay, Hojlund, and Romelu Lukaku.
Conte's Fixture Schedule Tirade
With a staggering thirteen players absent through injury, Conte praised his team's effort against a European heavyweight before unleashing a blistering critique of the calendar. 'Each of us is trying to do our best, playing without thirteen players, many of them key, and holding our own against Chelsea in a European level match is the most important thing,' Conte stated in his post-match comments.
His frustration quickly turned to the schedule makers. 'I have energy, we have to play in two and a half days. It's hard to understand who makes the schedules and puts three games in seven days,' he fumed. 'I'd like to know who the genius is who makes the schedules. We play on Sunday, then now at 9pm, and then Saturday at 6pm.'
Conte drew a direct link between the congested fixture list and player welfare, adding pointedly, 'Then they talk about injuries and many other things, but then they totally don't give a damn.' He insisted that despite the severe injury crisis that has plagued the squad since the start of the year, the team was showing clear signs of progress and growth.
Champions League Curse Continues for Conte
The elimination further underlined Antonio Conte's underwhelming record in the Champions League, which stands in stark contrast to his domestic successes. The Italian tactician has only once progressed as far as the quarter-finals, achieving that feat in his debut season in the competition with Juventus. Statistics reveal a troubling pattern, with Conte having failed to reach the knockout stages in four of his seven seasons managing in the Champions League.
Identifying the Pivotal Moment
For Conte, the root of their elimination was not solely the defeat to his former club Chelsea, but a missed opportunity in a previous match. He pinpointed Napoli's 1-1 draw with 10-man Copenhagen last week as the squad's 'biggest regret' of the entire league phase.
'The biggest mistake was definitely the one in Copenhagen. It should be a game everyone will regret, we all agree,' Conte lamented. 'You can't be a man and a goal up and then concede a penalty and equalise, otherwise we would have already qualified for the play-offs and it would have been less important. These are games that test us.'
Despite the crushing disappointment, Conte sought to find a positive note, arguing that the performance level shown by his injury-ravaged squad proved their progress was no accident. 'The level we showed despite being in a poor position shows that what Napoli are doing isn't the result of chance but of careful work, which needs to continue,' he concluded, suggesting that with better fortune regarding injuries, his team could be matching any side in world football.
