Conte tempers Napoli´s title ambitions despite comfortable Sassuolo win

Antonio Conte was fast to mood Napoli’s Scudetto expectations regardless of getting their Serie A title defence off to a successful begin in opposition to Sassuolo.

Conte watched on as targets in both half from Scott McTominay and summer time signing Kevin De Bruyne sealed a 2-0 win for Napoli at MAPEI Stadium on Saturday.

The consequence noticed Napoli prolong their unbeaten streak to 13 matches (W8 D5), which is the longest such run throughout the highest 5 European leagues.

Solely between April and November 2022 below Luciano Spalletti have Napoli gone on an extended stretch with out defeat, going 19 matches with out loss in Serie A.

Conte steered that it will be troublesome for his crew to copy their title success from final 12 months as Napoli put together to juggle European commitments with league motion.

“Will probably be a really troublesome and attention-grabbing marketing campaign with seven or eight groups preventing for the Scudetto or Champions League qualification,” Conte advised reporters.

“We try to finish the construction of the squad, and it’ll require persistence.”

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Conte added he was nonetheless ready to strike the appropriate stability in midfield, after beginning with McTominay, De Bruyne, Stanislav Lobotka and Frank Anguissa in opposition to Sassuolo.

McTominay, who scooped the MVP award in 2024-25 after a variety of sensible shows, opened his account with a near-post header within the seventeenth minute of the match.

He has now scored 10 targets in Serie A in 2025, degree with Manchester United’s Bryan Mbeumo for essentially the most from a midfielder throughout Europe’s high 5 leagues.

And at 34 years and 56 days previous, De Bruyne turned the oldest participant to attain on his debut for Napoli in Serie A within the three-point-for-a-win period (since 1994-95).

The Belgian was additionally the third midfielder to attain on his Napoli debut within the high flight since 1994-95, after Jonathan de Guzman in 2014 and Francesco Moriero 25 years in the past.

“I’m nonetheless looking for the appropriate system to make sure the three midfielders from final season can co-exist harmoniously with Kevin,” Conte added.

“We haven’t had lengthy to work on it, however I’m seeing some attention-grabbing issues.

Conte did, nevertheless, bathe explicit reward on McTominay and De Bruyne, with the 56-year-old believing their differing enjoying types complement one another.

“Scott is a fighter who can ghost in from deep and turn out to be devastating, whereas he additionally has a great shot from distance,” Conte stated.

“The opening purpose was a state of affairs we had tried in coaching.

“De Bruyne has completely different traits, he likes to maneuver it round and barely runs into the field. We strive to make sure all of the zones are coated.”