Napoli, Conte’s 14th Champions League loss to Man City | OneFootball

The 2-0 defeat suffered by Antonio Conte's Napoli against Manchester City is not just a misstep in the early stages of the new Champions League, but fits into a long trend that accompanies the European career of the coach from Salento.

Conte and the Champions, a difficult relationship: 14th career defeat against Manchester City

For Conte, in fact, this is the fourteenth defeat in his career in the top European club competition. A fact that confirms that the Champions League remains the most challenging terrain for a coach who, in national championships, has instead built a winning reputation.

Conte's numbers in the Champions League

The overall balance is clear:

15 wins,

14 draws,

14 losses.

A track record that, unlike domestic competitions (where his average points exceed 2.40 per game and counts titles won in Italy and the Premier League), highlights the coach's difficulty in consistently imposing himself in Europe.

European eliminations: a bitter constant

Analysing the six European campaigns already played by Conte in the Champions League, clear limits emerge:

Three eliminations in the groups (two with Inter, one with Juventus),

Two eliminations in the round of 16 (Chelsea and Tottenham),

One elimination in the quarterfinals (Juventus).

No semifinal or final reached, a goal that weighs on his international image, especially when compared to the successes achieved in the championships.

Results with different clubs

Juventus: 6 wins, 4 draws, 4 losses.

Inter: 3 wins, 4 draws, 5 losses.

Chelsea: 3 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses.

Tottenham: 2 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses.

With Napoli, Conte has just started his European journey, and the hope of the Partenopei environment is that the experience of the new additions — particularly that of Kevin De Bruyne — can help reverse this trend.

Next more approachable commitments for Napoli

After the Manchester City hurdle, Napoli's next opponents seem less daunting on paper: Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven, Eintracht Frankfurt, Qarabag, Benfica and Copenhagen. It will be in these challenges that Conte will have the opportunity to improve his record in the Champions and show that his reputation as a "championship coach" can also extend to the European stage.

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