Stellini: ‘Conte focus is on Napoli performance and determination’ against Inter
Antonio Conte did not speak to the media after his furious reaction to an Inter penalty in the 2-2 draw, so assistant Cristian Stellini preferred to focus on the ‘deserved’ Napoli result
The Partenopei refused to give in at San Siro, as they twice went behind to an early Federico Dimarco angled drive and the Hakan Calhanoglu penalty that enraged their coach, but Scott McTominay got them back on track for the 2-2 draw.
Conte was sent off from the touchline after that penalty for an Amir Rrahmani step on Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s foot, screaming ‘shame on you’ into the face of the fourth official, having already been angry at the spot-kick for their midweek 2-2 draw with Verona.
With this in mind, he sent assistant manager Stellini to speak with DAZN Italia.
Conte assistant focuses on Napoli reaction
“I honestly wouldn’t discuss the penalty incident, as we already had a rather complicated week in that sense, so it’s best to just look beyond that and focus on the great performance of this team,” noted Stellini.
“The reaction after the penalty gives us great confidence and strength. We had a team that proved once again in a difficult arena and against a strong opponent that it deserved to win the title last season.”
Antonio Conte is FURIOUS after seeing red
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Did Conte say anything to Stellini before the decision not to come to the media interviews?
“There is great satisfaction for the reaction of the team, straight after the penalty we didn’t see the incident, it was just a reaction to conceding rather than to the challenge itself. We don’t want to rewind and look at that again.
“After a red card in previous matches, he has decided not to come here. Hopefully he won’t get sent off in future, then it won’t happen again and everyone will be happy.”
Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis took to social media after the game with this message.
“Wonderful match! Fabulous Napoli. With the 9 players who have been absent for much of the season, what would Napoli have achieved by now?”
While Inter made all five of their substitutions this evening, Napoli and Conte only made two, and one of them was in stoppages.
“We are in good physical shape, and have been for a while now,” noted Stellini.
“We haven’t had the options to rotate much, and we must have a little more patience with that, but getting back twice against Inter at San Siro is not easy for anyone. I think we deserved the draw, had a very strong start to the second half, were convinced that we could do damage.
“We’re satisfied with the character, determination and the quality that we showed this evening.”
It was due to one of those injuries, to Romelu Lukaku, that Rasmus Hojlund was signed late in the summer from Manchester United.
“When he arrived, we had already started the season and had a lot of games to play, so as he is also an international, we barely saw him in training in September and October. Despite that, he put in so much effort and humility, he works every day to improve, and we’d love to make him into a complete striker. He has a long way to go, but is already doing very well.”
As Milan were held to a 1-1 draw by Fiorentina today, which was also their second consecutive stalemate, it means the top spots remain intact.
Inter are the leaders on 43 points, followed by Milan on 40 and Napoli 39, all with a game in hand to be played on Wednesday and Thursday, rescheduled for the Supercoppa Italiana commitments.
The Partenopei were caught in third by Roma, but who have already played 20 rounds, and Juventus are in action against Cremonese tomorrow evening.