Napoli count cost of Antonio Conte’s Champions League hoodoo

Antonio Conte’s underwhelming record in Europe has once again become the focus of scrutiny after Napoli were eliminated from the Champions League.

A 3-2 loss to Chelsea at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday night put paid to Napoli’s hopes of securing a Champions League play-off spot, relegating the Serie A champions from 25th place at the start of play to 30th.

It was the latest addition to an all too familiar story for Conte, who has now failed to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League four times in six attempts. 

Despite winning the Scudetto with Juventus, Internazionale and Napoli, and conquering the Premier League with Chelsea, Conte has struggled to match his dominant domestic record in Europe. 

Antonio Conte’s modest record in European competition

A quarter-final run in his first season at Juventus remains Conte’s best return from seven Champions League campaigns as a manager, while his most notable achievement in Europe came five years ago, when his Inter side were defeated by Sevilla in the Europa League final.

Conte can point to a number of mitigating factors, not least an injury list that left Napoli without 13 players, seven of whom might otherwise have started against Chelsea. “The wind is against us and the waves are high,” remarked the Italian. 

Conte could also have been forgiven for highlighting a catalogue of misfortune in this season’s competition. 

Club captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was dismissed early on in Napoli’s 2-0 defeat at Manchester City. Alessandro Bungiorno put through his own net away to PSV before Lorenzo Lucca saw red for dissent, precipitating a late collapse as Napoli were hit for six. Then, when Napoli found themselves playing against 10 men in Copenhagen earlier this month, they were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage, drawing 1-1. 

It has been one thing after another, and yet it was Napoli’s schedule that seemed especially to draw Conte’s ire.

Napoli’s schedule ‘hard to understand’, says Antonio Conte

“It’s hard to understand who makes the schedules and puts three games in seven days,” said Conte, whose side were beaten 3-0 by Juventus on Sunday and host Fiorentina on Saturday tea-time. 

“I’d like to know who the genius is who makes the schedules. We play on Sunday, then now at 9pm, and then Saturday at 6pm. They talk about injuries and many other things, but then they totally don’t give a damn.” 

What has caused concern, however, is the financial implications of failing to advance in Europe. While Napoli’s campaign has been worth an estimated £41m, progression to the last 16 would have netted at least another £10m, a not insignificant sum for a club that posted a net loss of about £18.5m last summer.

The priority for Conte now is to ensure that Napoli, currently fourth in Serie A but only a point ahead of Roma, qualify for next season’s Champions League.