Conte: ‘Napoli conceding too many goals, but I made right decisions’ | OneFootball

Antonio Conte admits Napoli are ‘conceding too many goals’ recently after their 2-1 defeat to 10-man Milan, but defends his decisions for the starting XI and substitutions.

The Partenopei went into this game with a totally new defence, having lost Leonardo Spinazzola, Mathias Olivera, Amir Rrahmani and Alessandro Buongiorno to injury, so summer signings Luca Marianucci and Miguel Gutierrez made their debuts.

MILAN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 28: Santiago Gimenez of AC Milan is challenged by Luca Marianucci of Napoli during the Serie A match between AC Milan and SSC Napoli at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on September 28, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

It was a shock start for Marianucci, who was shrugged off by Christian Pulisic to set up the Alexis Saelemaekers opener in the third minute, then the American scored the second himself.

The game changed on the hour mark when Pervis Estupinan saw red for a foul on Giovanni Di Lorenzo, allowing Kevin De Bruyne to convert the penalty, but David Neres saw his stoppage-time strike clip the woodwork, as 10-man Milan held on.

Conte stands up for Napoli after first defeat

MILAN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 28: Antonio Conte, Head Coach of Napoli during the Serie A match between AC Milan and SSC Napoli at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on September 28, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

“It’s a pity we conceded so early, the team as a whole could’ve done better on both those situations,” Conte told DAZN Italia.

“Starting at San Siro and being a goal down after four minutes is not easy. We played our game overall, I liked the team in the first half too, we pressed Milan very high, created scoring opportunities, but there’s work to do, because we’ve been conceding too many goals lately. If you look at the two against Pisa and the two today, they are adding up.

“Defending has always been our greatest strength, so we’ve got to keep working and improving. However, coming here with this kind of authority against a solid Milan side at San Siro, that still ought to give us positive sensations. At the same time, we know that there’s work to do and improvement in certain areas.”

This result means that Napoli are now caught at the top of the Serie A table on 12 points by both Milan and Roma, losing their perfect start to the season.

“It was our first defeat in five rounds, which was against a very strong Milan side at San Siro. It can happen for them to score two goals, but the lads also know we must do better as a team. I want to reiterate, it’s about the whole team needing a little more focus and concentration, because we made life difficult for ourselves at 2-0 down.

“We still pushed hard and created scoring opportunities, but you’ve got to finish them too.”

MILAN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 28: Kevin De Bruyne of Napoli

scores a penalty goal during the Serie A match between AC Milan and SSC Napoli at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on September 28, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Conte was pressed on some of his decisions, as Marianucci and Gutierrez had not played a single minute of football for Napoli until their debuts this evening in the starting XI. Was the former Empoli man chosen because he’s not on the Champions League list, therefore resting Sam Beukema for midweek?

“Marianucci is a player who was bought by Napoli, so he is part of the squad. He has been training well and earned this opportunity to play, he has great potential and proved he can belong in this group,” explained the coach.

“On Wednesday, we hope that nothing happens to Juan Jesus and Beukema, because we don’t have any other centre-backs. Di Lorenzo is suspended in the Champions League too, while Spinazzola and Olivera have muscular problems.

“When you play every three days and the entire defence gets injured, you have to make evaluations,” added Conte.

“We must recognise that these players arrived not to replace the first choice stars, so we will need time and patience to let them grow. At the same time, they need to play in competitive games to go through that process.

“Gutierrez hadn’t played for many months, but Pasquale Mazzocchi was not fully fit either, so we had to force the situation there.”

De Bruyne seemed very irritated with Conte when he was substituted as part of a triple change on 73 minutes, also taking off Rasmus Hojlund and Scott McTominay.

“I tried to introduce fresh legs, as Milan were clamming up, and we needed something different. I think those were the right changes to make at that time,” replied Conte.

The coach was also asked specifically about De Bruyne’s angry muttering in the press conference, and gave a strong response.

“I hope he was irritated at the result, because if he was irritated about something else, he is dealing with the wrong person,” said Conte.