Napoli needed to react after a disappointing week, following the shocking 6-2 defeat against PSV in the UEFA Champions League, and react they did against one of the best teams around Europe right now, Cristian Chivu’s Inter. The Azzurri won 3-1 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in front of their home fans and got back on track in the right moment and in the right match, showing their Serie A rivals they are still the team to beat this season after what happened last year, when Antonio Conte’s team won the title on the last matchday of the season. The Italian manager was the absolute star of the show in this victory, with his starting lineup decisions and an heated clash with his former striker, Lautaro Martinez.
After the European disappointment, Conte spoke to Sky Italy and expressed his concerns on the new season and the players signed over the summer 2025. “Last year we won an extraordinary and incredible championship where everyone pushed their limits with unity across the board. This year, however, between playing so many games and bringing in so many players in my opinion, nine new players were too many. We weren’t balanced. I’ve always said this year would be difficult, there are some aspects that take time to absorb.” He put his money where his mouth was as Conte decided to bench most of the summer signings including strikers Lorenzo Lucca, Noa Lang and center back Sam Beukema, showing once again his concerns for the current roster.
The Azzurri suffered in the first part of the game while Inter had some big chances to score the opening goal before a much discussed penalty awarded to the home team, later scored by Kevin De Bruyne, the only summer signing who started the match alongside goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic. However, the former Manchester City midfielder got injured while taking the penalty, forcing Conte to replace him early in the match.
Among the decisions taken by the Italian manager, the most interesting one is about the central striker. Conte deployed the usual 4-1-4-1 with David Neres playing up front instead of a more physical striker like Lucca, who was benched a few days after receiving a red card against PSV, while both Rasmus Hojlund and Romelu Lukaku are currently injured. De Bruyne’s injury, which doesn’t appear to be a short-term one, is likely to force a tactical rethink for the Azzurri. Conte may opt to return to the 4-3-3 system used during the 2024–25 season, rather than deploying both the Belgian midfielder and Scott McTominay together, the biggest tactical adjustment of the new campaign.
However, one of the most discussed moments of the second half was Antonio Conte’s on-pitch clash with Inter captain Martínez. The two exchanged words from a distance after Conte had already been involved in a heated argument with another Inter player, Denzel Dumfries. Speaking to DAZN after the game, Conte didn’t go easy on the Inter captain: “Lautaro is an excellent player, though maybe I didn’t get the chance to really know him on a personal level. I wish him all the best, and that’s fine by me.”
Back in 2021, the two had an argument when Conte was the Inter manager and won the Scudetto during the 2020-21 season, with Lautaro leading the team. Recently, the Argentinian star went back and talked about the episode. “We had a little argument at the time and it was eventually resolved. My teammates then set up a boxing ring as a joke, it was better to laugh about it! It was a nice moment and helped us relax.” Still, perhaps things weren’t as settled as he suggested.
