Napoli: Conte wounded, Milan impress, De Bruyne saga erupts | OneFootball

Napoli stumble at San Siro and miss the chance to pull ahead in the standings. Antonio Conte’s team suffer their first defeat of the season, allowing Milan and Roma to catch up at the top.

Napoli, Conte licks his wounds: Milan (at times) superior and the De Bruyne case erupts

A costly setback, coming at the end of a match in which the Rossoneri proved more clinical in eleven versus eleven and managed to withstand the final onslaught despite being a man down.

Emergency defense: bitter debut for Marianucci and Gutierrez

Conte had to deal with major absences in the back line. With Buongiorno and Rrhamani out and Beukema rested ahead of the Champions League, the coach started Marianucci and Gutierrez in a high-pressure context. The inexperience showed: the first Rossoneri goal came from a mistake by the former Empoli player, while the second resulted from poor marking and an exposed right flank. After conceding two goals to Pisa, this is another warning sign for Conte, who has historically built his teams on defensive solidity.

De Bruyne-Conte, first sparks

The signing of Kevin De Bruyne has led to a change in formation, with McTominay sacrificed in a less suitable position and a winger often left out. The Belgian scored again away from home, but only from set pieces and without delivering consistent performances. When he was substituted, his discontent was clear. Conte responded in the press conference with harsh words: “I hope he was upset about the result, because if he was upset about something else, he picked the wrong person.” A clear signal: the relationship between the two needs to be managed to avoid tensions that could undermine the locker room.

Neres, the wild card who deserves more space

From the bench, the only one able to change the pace was David Neres. Coming on late, he came close to scoring twice: first hitting the post and then being denied by an involuntary deflection from Modric, followed by a save from Maignan. The Brazilian winger seems the most penalized by the new formation and perhaps deserved more minutes from the start of the second half.

Lukaku’s absence weighs heavily

In attack, Napoli paid the price for missing their main striker. Lukaku will be out for several more weeks, and his replacements Hojlund and Lucca failed to seriously trouble the Milan defense. Despite a high number of attempts on Maignan, there was a lack of clinical finishing: a shortcoming that prevented the Azzurri from taking advantage of almost an entire half with a numerical superiority.

Champions League: no more missteps allowed

The defeat against Milan must be put behind them immediately. The focus is already on the Champions League clash with Sporting, where Conte cannot afford any mistakes after the loss to Manchester City. An immediate reaction is needed to prevent the first crack from becoming a bigger problem.

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