Napoli coach Antonio Conte spoke to Dazn following the victory over Torino, a result that secured their solitary lead at the top of the league table. He shared his thoughts on the game and the season so far.
Conte admitted he didn`t watch Inter`s match, saying, “I haven`t seen Inter`s game; we already suffer enough for ourselves, why should we suffer for others? I watched the second half of Fiorentina-Empoli, then turned off my phone and everything else. Everyone decides how they want to suffer.”
Reflecting on the conversation with his team, he stated, “Four steps are left. We`ve taken the first one by moving ahead. We know very well that we will face two teams fighting for survival, Lecce and Parma, and then Genoa and Cagliari at home. It`s all still to play for. Today it was crucial to win, and we did it with personality and determination, like a team aware of its strength. The stadium pushed us immensely; it was our twelfth and thirteenth man. It was difficult to even get onto the pitch because of the number of fans present. They weren`t just happy; they were excited and trying to transmit all their determination to us.”
When asked about the possibility of achieving anything in Naples, Conte chose to keep his focus purely on football. “I talk about football, full stop, also because anything one says gets twisted and used.”
He also commented on the significant improvement of his midfield: “We had to find goals because it`s not a squad with many players who guarantee double figures or a certain number of goals. You have to work hard, leveraging the resources you have to improve, and I believe everyone has improved. We certainly worked a lot; it`s the result of our work that we have 74 points with 4 matchdays left, and I think Champions League qualification is mathematically certain. To think about where we started is something beautiful, but it is exclusively thanks to the lads.”
Finally, asked if winning the Scudetto would be extraordinary, Conte concluded, “Winning the Scudetto would be a prodigy.”