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Antonio Conte was proud of how his Napoli side rallied against adversity in order to beat AC Milan and reach the Supercoppa Italiana final.
Napoli were not in the best of form going into the semi-final in Riyadh, having lost their last two games in the Champions League against Benfica and Serie A against Udinese. Not only that, but they also lost to Milan earlier in the season too, a 2-1 league defeat at San Siro.
Milan went into the competition with the hopes of defending the trophy that they lifted back in January, but they ended up bowing out with a whimper. David Neres scored before the break and Rasmus Hojlund netted after to seal an early journey home in an eventual 2-0 defeat.
Conte’s words
After the game – and also after tensions boiled over on the touchline – Conte spoke to SportMediaset to offer his thoughts on his his side performed, and his comments were relayed by Football Italia.
You responded well after two losses…
“I realise it is boring to keep repeating the same things, but when you play every three days with very few players available, it’s inevitable that there will be some setbacks. It’s what happened last week and can well happen in future.
“We wanted to play a strong performance against a great team full of talented players. Our style of football is very energetic and demanding, we don’t just try to defend and counter. I am glad because these lads showed they want to challenge for this trophy.”
You made some changes…
“We are doing alright physically, but it is inevitable that so many games saps your energy. We paid a price for the recent wins, as we were drained against Benfica and in the second half against Udinese, but today we moved very well as a team unit.
“When we manage to work as a team, regardless of who is playing, then we are competitive. We’ve got to continue like this going forward.
“Those who were injured are still out, but the new players are now more involved than they were earlier in the season. I always said that I expected this to be a complicated campaign, but I didn’t expect this many injuries.”
Could Lukaku play alongside Hojlund?
“First of all, let’s try to get Romelu back to full fitness,. He is such an important player for us, with so much experience. Just having him on the bench is important. I hope that we have many more games to play, so both will have chances.
“We are doing what we need to do now, there are players who are adapting to different roles, so I am getting a good response from everyone.”
The final is on Monday, where either Inter or Bologna await…
“We just wanted to be in the Final to have our chance at playing for the trophy. We know both potential opponents are very strong.”
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