Antonio Conte was fast to mood Napoli’s Scudetto expectations regardless of getting their Serie A title defence off to a profitable begin in opposition to Sassuolo.
Conte watched on as targets in both half from Scott McTominay and summer time signing Kevin De Bruyne sealed a 2-0 win for Napoli at MAPEI Stadium on Saturday.
The consequence noticed Napoli prolong their unbeaten streak to 13 matches (W8 D5), which is the longest such run throughout the highest 5 European leagues.
Solely between April and November 2022 underneath Luciano Spalletti have Napoli gone on an extended stretch with out defeat, going 19 matches with out loss in Serie A.
Conte prompt that it might be troublesome for his workforce to copy their title success from final yr as Napoli put together to juggle European commitments with league motion.
“It is going to be a really troublesome and fascinating marketing campaign with seven or eight groups preventing for the Scudetto or Champions League qualification,” Conte instructed reporters.
“We are attempting to finish the construction of the squad, and it’ll require endurance.”
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Conte added he was nonetheless ready to strike the appropriate stability in midfield, after beginning with McTominay, De Bruyne, Stanislav Lobotka and Frank Anguissa in opposition to Sassuolo.
McTominay, who scooped the MVP award in 2024-25 after various sensible shows, opened his account with a near-post header within the seventeenth minute of the match.
He has now scored 10 targets in Serie A in 2025, degree with Manchester United’s Bryan Mbeumo for probably the most from a midfielder throughout Europe’s prime 5 leagues.
And at 34 years and 56 days previous, De Bruyne grew to become the oldest participant to attain on his debut for Napoli in Serie A within the three-point-for-a-win period (since 1994-95).
The Belgian was additionally the third midfielder to attain on his Napoli debut within the prime flight since 1994-95, after Jonathan de Guzman in 2014 and Francesco Moriero 25 years in the past.
“I’m nonetheless looking for the appropriate components to make sure the three midfielders from final season can co-exist harmoniously with Kevin,” Conte added.
“We haven’t had lengthy to work on it, however I’m seeing some fascinating issues.
Conte did, nevertheless, bathe specific reward on McTominay and De Bruyne, with the 56-year-old believing their differing enjoying types complement one another.
“Scott is a fighter who can ghost in from deep and change into devastating, whereas he additionally has an excellent shot from distance,” Conte mentioned.
“The opening objective was a scenario we had tried in coaching.
“De Bruyne has completely different traits, he likes to maneuver it round and infrequently runs into the field. We attempt to make sure all of the zones are coated.”
