Conte: ‘Napoli are doing something extraordinary’ this season | OneFootball

Antonio Conte feels Napoli ‘deserved more’ from their 1-1 draw with Udinese, but insists this was not a missed opportunity for Scudetto points, but rather for European qualification. ‘What we are doing is truly extraordinary.’

The Partenopei were hoping to take full advantage of Thursday’s Inter slip-up against Fiorentina to extend their lead at the top of the table, but were instead held to a second consecutive Serie A stalemate.

Scott McTominay’s towering header had opened the scoring only to be cancelled out moments later by a strange, swerving Jurgen Ekkelenkamp strike from outside the box.

Conte surprised by taking some big players like Romelu Lukaku and Matteo Politano off quite early.

“The difficulties we had was not converting big chances, then allowed Udinese straight back into the game after taking the lead,” he told DAZN.

“It can happen that after 70 minutes you try to introduce some fresh energy, with different characteristics in attack. I tried to use all five substitutions, we cannot always wait until the 80-85th minute.

“It’s a pity, because I think we deserved more than a point this evening. The second half petered out slowly, but in the first half we created a lot of chances, we controlled the game, but if you don’t convert those opportunities then it will cause problems.

“Udinese are a very physical team with some real quality players who I believe will soon move to big clubs. We did what we always do, press high, but they had players like Lucca who dominate in the air and are always a threat.”

Conte shoots down Scudetto talk

epa11885064 Napoli’s head coach Antonio Conte reacts before the Italian Serie A soccer match SSC Napoli vs Udinese Calcio at Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, 09 February 2025. EPA-EFE/CESARE ABBATE

This result means that if Inter beat Fiorentina tomorrow evening at San Siro, the gap at the top will be sliced back down to just one point. Was this a missed opportunity for Napoli to break away and consolidate their Scudetto status?

“I repeat, we need to look only at our own progress. It was a missed opportunity to secure a place in Europe, but even then a draw with Udinese is not to be sniffed at,” replied Conte.

“We must not confuse reality with what we are doing now, which is truly extraordinary. Trust me, it’s extraordinary.

“The lads left the field drained tonight, they gave everything to get the victory. It was our ninth game unbeaten, so trust me from the heart when I say this is extraordinary.”

Napoli had a shortage of left-backs this evening, as Leonardo Spinazzola sustained a muscular injury in training, with Mathias Olivera already out of action, so Pasquale Mazzocchi had to take the role.

Conte did give a late debut to Noah Okafor after his deadline day move on loan with option to buy from Milan, a player who was far from his first choice to replace Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.