CorSport – Napoli, for Conte it’s crunch time in the Champions League | OneFootball

CorSport – Napoli, for Conte it's the moment of truth

Conte said it: it's the moment of truth. And although the season has just begun, it seems the most fitting definition to frame the period: since he became the coach, the team has never faced the psychophysical management of the double close engagement. Or rather: in the previous season, they played three rounds of the Coppa Italia and both in the round of 32 won against Palermo and in the round of 16 lost to Lazio, it was a total turnover. Ten out of eleven the first time, eleven out of eleven the second. Clear message, right? The journey that began yesterday towards Florence, however, cannot simply be described as the eve of Fiorentina-Napoli: it is rather the long prelude to six days of top-level football between the league and Champions League in which Conte, inevitably, will have to manage forces, energies, and men. A brand-new requirement: not for him, of course, but for his Napoli. As we were saying: the team will take the stage today at the Franchi, at 20:45, and on Thursday at 21:00 (Italian time) at the Etihad against Manchester City. A thrilling cup debut against Donnarumma, Rodri, and Haaland but also a daunting duo between the coils of Pioli and those of Guardiola. The idea is that the chills of De Bruyne's romantic return home will soon fade from Kevin's skin: muscles, nerves, and a heart of steel will be needed. And surgical choices.

In between? Train and plane trips, back and forth in twenty-four or forty-eight hours, breathless training sessions, and who knows how many opportunities to rest with a match every three days on the schedule. To be precise, until the next break in October, Napoli will play six times in twenty-two days: starting with Viola and City, followed by Pisa in the league, Monday, September 22 at Maradona (20:45); away at San Siro against Milan on Sunday, September 28 (20:45), a great Serie A classic; Wednesday, October 1, second round of the cup with Sporting Lisbon at Maradona (21:00); and in sequence, Sunday, October 5 (18:00), league encore at home against Genoa. Pause. With the truth in hand, probably.

Napoli will immediately discover a series of things: firstly, the collective attitude to the double engagement after a year of typical weeks and a certain type of training (super intense); athletic and physical responses but also mental, character, and personality; the turnover and how Conte will use it, considering that for obvious reasons related to condition and injury prevention, it will not be possible to rely on the same players with so many close engagements. Last season and the rivalry with Inter, after all, confirmed once again how much condition and brilliance make the difference regardless of the squad's depth. Which, by the way, is fundamental and indispensable to compete at these levels: and indeed, this infamous moment that is about to begin will also reveal the truth about the market, on paper of absolute level.

Conte had almost all the alternatives needed to improve in quality and numbers a group too far behind compared to those returning from double and triple competitions, and he would have had them all if not for Lukaku's injury. "It affected us," the coach said yesterday. Indeed. And perhaps it has oriented the future: Hojlund, 22 years old, could become the striker of the future. Expectations are very high: it is no coincidence that Rasmus is challenging Lucca (amicably) to start from the first minute today against Fiorentina. These are the laws of great teams. But anyway, in the next twenty-two days, there will be room for everyone.

Carlo Gioia

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.