Conte: ‘It is very difficult to win at Napoli’ after claiming 2024-25 Serie A title | OneFootball

Antonio Conte insists ‘it is very difficult to win at Napoli’, but also feels that it has been an ‘extraordinary campaign’ and that ‘the lads deserve credit’ after winning the 2024-25 Serie A title in their final game of the season.

Napoli are the new champions of Italy after a 2-0 win at home against Cagliari on Friday evening. Inter, who pushed the Partenopei right to the very end, beat Como 2-0 away from home on Friday night, but the damage had already been done in their fight for the Scudetto.

You can see how the action unfolded from both matches on the Football Italia Liveblog.

Conte: ‘The pressure on us was insane’

NAPLES, ITALY – APRIL 27: Antonio Conte Napoli head coach looks on before the Serie A match between Napoli and Torino at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on April 27, 2025 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

Conte is now one of only two coaches to have won the Serie A title at three different clubs, following in the footsteps of Fabio Capello after his victories at Juventus, Inter and Napoli.

“It happened again, and it’s something wonderful. When we got to the stadium, it was honestly difficult to get in, as I don’t know how many people were there. I had a slight thought, if we let these people down, it’d be something we carried with us for a long time,” he said in his immediate post-match press conference on Friday night.

“These lads were fantastic, it wasn’t easy, as the pressure on us was insane, but we faced the game in the best way. It has been an extraordinary campaign and the lads deserve the credit for wanting to challenge themselves again, especially those who won two years ago and then finished 10th last season.”

Conte: ‘In all honesty, it is very difficult to win at Napoli’

NAPLES, ITALY – MAY 23: Romelu Lukaku of Napoli celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the Serie A match between Napoli and Cagliari at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on May 23, 2025 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

The Partenopei had won the title in 2023 under Luciano Spalletti, but then finished 10th last season, so had failed to even qualify for European football.

Ultimately, that proved one of the keys to this victory, because while Inter were stretched thin by the Champions League Final and Coppa Italia semi-final, Napoli rode out an injury crisis to pip them at the top of Serie A by just one point.

Conte had said the title was the icing on the cake, so ex-Napoli legend Ciro Ferrara presented him with a cake.

“It was certainly the most unexpected, difficult and stimulating challenge of my career. To come to Napoli after 10th place and try to get everything back on track, as it had all rather smashed up last season, and convincing some of the best players to remain because we could do something positive.

“The opening 0-0 with Modena in the Coppa Italia and 3-0 defeat to Verona in Serie A, then to be here celebrating the Scudetto, it was just incredible.”

epa12129582 SSC Napoli�s coach Antonio Conte celebrates winning the 2024/2025 Serie A title after the Italian Serie A soccer match between SSC Napoli and Cagliari Calcio, in Naples, Italy, 23 May 2025. SSC Napoli won their fourth league title. EPA-EFE/CIRO FUSCO

He had to watch this game from the stands due to a touchline ban after his red card against Parma last week, but quickly got to the pitch after the final whistle to join the celebrations.

There was a big hug with Lukaku, as the striker has scored 78 goals and provided 27 assists under Conte at several different clubs.

“In all honesty, it is very difficult to win at Napoli. For these players to do it twice in three years means there is something special here, so I am happy for those players. Over 30 years ago, Diego Armando Maradona won the title, now Giovanni Di Lorenzo as captain lifts the trophy again with the armband on, it’s special.

“I repeat, it was not an easy situation, because you are not in a club that systematically plays to win from the very start.”

So will Conte be the coach of Napoli next season too?

“We are enjoying everything. I have a good rapport with the President. Let’s say we had the chance to get to know each other this season, we are two winners. We might be winners in different ways, but we are both winners.”