Napoli's Conte post 2-0 UCL defeat to Manchester City

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Napoli boss Antonio Conte reacts to their 2-0 UEFA Champions League defeat to Manchester City Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK

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00:00I think playing against Manchester City with only 10 men doubtless have changed all of

00:27your plans and had an impact on your performance.

00:31So what do you take away from this evening's performance?

00:34Well, honestly, I have to say that from what I saw, even in the first 20 minutes, I think

00:46we can come out of this game stronger, strengthened.

00:51I think in the first 20 minutes you saw our plan, we came here to play the game, to try

00:57and win the rules and the impression I had was that when we had the ball, then we could

01:04hurt Manchester City.

01:06Certainly that was the plan and that's what I think we were able to do.

01:09In the first 20 minutes last year, we had a man sent off in an important game and then

01:22today in the Champions League against one of the top teams.

01:26Sorry, we didn't have any sendings off last year, but this year in a game like tonight's

01:30game we had one sending off after only 20 minutes.

01:33But, you know, I have to take the positives out of it, I think.

01:37Yeah, positives out of that.

01:3970 minutes during which we played 10 against 11 against a top team, you know, we had a

01:46great sense of self-sacrifice, I think, a great deal of determination, a great desire.

01:52You know, we didn't want to give up.

01:53We didn't want to just say, well, defeat is inevitable.

01:57And I think that, you know, we've prepared games whereby we've taken, we've conceded goals

02:10by pressing a little bit higher, one from a throw-in almost.

02:15And, you know, the game had changed once we had the sending off.

02:20And I think my feeling that I had, pitch side, was that the players, they knew what they

02:33wanted to do.

02:34You know, they really wanted to try to test themselves against Manchester City.

02:41Ultimately, though, I don't think for either team we can draw too many conclusions from

02:51that game because, you know, has the sending off, had the red card given to Manchester City

02:58play, for example, it would have changed the game as well.

03:02And I guess that you regret very much that you weren't able to play this game,

03:1011 against 11.

03:11You spoke about the way the team's developing and it's growing.

03:14Now, also on the refereeing, I mean, you know, in the first half, the referee only seemed

03:20to blow his whistle to give Manchester City a foul.

03:24And, you know, I think the VAR could have looked at something in the build-up to the first

03:31goal as well.

03:32I think there was possibly a foul on Birkoma in the build-up to the first goal.

03:36Well, I haven't looked at the sending off again.

03:43But I don't really want to spend too much time talking about individual episodes or incidents,

03:54which obviously did have an impact on the game.

03:57But nevertheless, I think you know, against Fiorentina, I got really angry with the players

04:06for their performance in the last 10 minutes.

04:08But today, the feeling I had, Pete's side, was that, you know, our team came here,

04:17was well aware of the size of the task before them, a very mature approach, and they wanted

04:23to play the game, wanted on an equal footing with Manchester City.

04:27And I think we saw that.

04:28We saw what the plan was in the first 20 minutes.

04:30The impression that I had was that once we had the ball, we could hurt them.

04:35I really felt that.

04:36We could hurt them.

04:37You know, when we had possession of the ball, we could hurt them.

04:40Then the situation changed, and, you know, you can't leave against Manchester City.

04:46I mean, you know, you can lose against one of the top teams, you know, the team which

04:52is very well equipped to win this competition, absolutely.

04:55So, I think the important thing is that we learn from this game.

05:02And my takeaway is very positive, I have to say.

05:07You know, we were fearless going out onto the pitch today.

05:10You know, we came here to play the game, to play our game.

05:15And I think that, you know, they were on it, first 20 minutes, definitely.

05:19But then, you know, we're only able to play 11 against 11, first 20 minutes.

05:24But even in the rest of the game, we were very careful, attentive.

05:30We wanted to be on it.

05:32There was lots of, you know, sacrifices being made.

05:37We didn't want to look bad.

05:38We wanted to look bad.

05:39We didn't want to come out of this, you know, humiliated.

05:41Because it could have happened.

05:42It could have happened.

05:43But I think that we can go home, having lost 2-0.

05:47You know, they could have pulled our pants down and could have beat us 5-6-0.

05:51No, but they didn't.

05:52And so, you know, my players applied themselves.

05:55I don't think we deserved the thrashing, far from it.

05:59And we avoided one as well, given our attitude.

06:03Can I get 21 and then Giordano, please?

06:06Hi.

06:08It was important not to be thrashed in this kind of a game.

06:12And that could have happened.

06:13But what I'd like to ask you, in light of all of these considerations,

06:17do you think that Napoli can finish amongst the top eight

06:22at the end of the group stage?

06:25And then, you know, what influence your decision has taken Kevin De Bruyne off?

06:30Well, sincerely speaking, once again,

06:36what I continue to say is that

06:40you know, we need to enjoy our European journey.

06:47We need to enjoy the journey.

06:49This means that each and every game that we play in Europe,

06:52we need to make sure that we're proud of our performance

06:55for ourselves, for Napoli Football Club, and for all Neapolitans.

07:00That's the basics.

07:03And I think it's difficult, of course.

07:07I mean, we saw what happened last year as well.

07:09You know, some of the big teams like Real Madrid,

07:15Manchester City, if I'm not very much,

07:17didn't finish in the top eight last year anyway.

07:19But we know that we've got another seven games to play, haven't we?

07:22And, you know, we're well equipped, I think, to play those games.

07:25You know, we're going to grit our teeth,

07:29and I think that in each and every game,

07:32we want to get the best possible result, quite clearly.

07:34And we want to make ourselves proud,

07:36playing in this competition,

07:39and make Napoli, the City, proud as well.

07:44Now, in terms of the substitution of Kevin De Bruyne,

07:46well, you know, I was disappointed.

07:49But, you know, Destiny, it happened like that.

07:52You know, we haven't, since I think I've been manager here at Napoli,

07:56we haven't had one red card.

07:58And yet, tonight, it happened.

08:00In our first game in the Champions League,

08:03against a top team like Manchester City,

08:05it happened.

08:06Kevin De Bruyne, who'd come back home,

08:08he was coming home, and after 20 minutes,

08:11you know, it was our destiny, I guess, tonight.

08:16Who knows why?

08:17And, yeah, I was very sorry.

08:21That I had to make that substitution.

08:25You know, Kevin was coming back home,

08:27but I was also sorry,

08:29because I knew that by taking him off,

08:30we were going to miss some of the things that he can do,

08:32quite clearly.

08:33You know, he'd come back home almost.

08:40You know, he'd been here 10 years,

08:42and I was very sorry that I had to make a substitution.

08:45But I don't really see that I had any other option,

08:47other than to take Kevin off.

08:49And he understood, of course.

08:51He understood.

08:52I mean, you know, he's a good guy.

08:53He understood why he made that decision.

08:55He's got his head firmly on his shoulders.

08:57But sometimes, you know, these things happen.

08:59You know, destiny throws up these situations.

09:03You know, taking off Kevin De Bruyne off all people after 20 minutes.

09:08I'd thought of doing lots of things,

09:10but I might have to do lots of different things during the game,

09:12make lots of different substitutions,

09:13but not changing our set-up,

09:16shifting Spinazzola to the right,

09:18bringing on a left back,

09:21bringing on a Matias Oliveira,

09:23and then trying to strike a balance

09:26against a really, really tough opponent,

09:29like Manchester City, Giordano.

09:33Hi.

09:35Obviously, when you're down to 10 men,

09:37you need to try to contain the opponents.

09:41Now, when you took Politano off,

09:44he was the only wide player who was supporting our centre-forward.

09:51So why didn't you take out perhaps a midfield player,

09:55someone in the middle?

09:56Well, we changed our tactical line-up,

09:58our formation, as it were.

10:00And after the...

10:04We moved to 5-3-1 after the sending-off.

10:075-3-1, Matteo, you know,

10:12he can try and play almost like a half-back almost, I guess,

10:17but that's not his natural position.

10:19And so, you know,

10:23he was getting exposed in a couple of one-on-one situations

10:27with Dorku,

10:28and, you know,

10:30they were using the fact that they had an extra man to expose him.

10:34He'd be booked as well.

10:36So I thought that it was quite logical to take...

10:40put on Spinazzola,

10:43to move him and shift him over.

10:46But I can only repeat.

10:49You know,

10:51we can analyse this and discuss it at length,

10:54but Politano,

10:56that's not his position.

10:58That's not his position if you're asking him to be kind of a half-back

11:01or, you know,

11:02and play in defence.

11:03I'd rather not have him in that position.

11:05He plays wide.

11:07You know,

11:08he can be...

11:09he can go forward,

11:11but that's not his background.

11:14That's not what sort of player he is.

11:16He's not a wing-back or a half-back.

11:19You can't play him in that position.

11:21You know,

11:22and there's also...

11:23he was having to cover a huge amount of the pitch as well.

11:26and the pitch as well.

11:27Well,

11:28yesterday,

11:29he said, you know,

11:30we need to be enthusiastic,

11:31you know.

11:35Do you think that

11:36this is the case now?

11:38There's a lot of enthusiasm in the dressing room,

11:41around the team at the moment.

11:43Well,

11:44we've only just started on this year's journey after all.

11:47So, as I said earlier,

11:53you know,

11:54even 11 against 11 against Manchester City,

11:56you can lose,

11:57you can lose the game.

11:59You know,

12:00we can lose the game.

12:01You know,

12:02we need to be humble about it.

12:03You know,

12:04we have to stay very calm as well.

12:05But we're here,

12:06we came here to play the game

12:08and to win points,

12:10take points off Manchester City.

12:12So, what I take away is the attitude,

12:14the mentality,

12:15the desire that I could see that the players had.

12:19And, you know,

12:20I could see that they felt this.

12:23And that's important.

12:24It means that they have confidence

12:26in what they're doing,

12:27in what I'm doing,

12:28in our team,

12:30in all situations.

12:32So, we've only just started,

12:33we've only just embarked upon this year's journey.

12:36We know, of course,

12:37that we're not necessarily the strongest team

12:39in the competition,

12:40but we certainly have this desire

12:43to achieve something in the competition.

12:46And, you know,

12:48we need to take the positives out of this

12:50because these are games,

12:52it's kind of a game, you know,

12:53where we could have really been taken to the cleaners.

12:55You know,

12:56the sort of thing that goes down in history.

12:57That could happen.

12:58You know,

12:59you lose a player after 10 minutes against Manchester City.

13:02You know,

13:04you concede five or six goals

13:06and off you go back home.

13:08But we didn't concede five or six goals.

13:11I think we stood up to them.

13:12And, you know,

13:14I'm positive.

13:15I have positive feelings about this game.

13:17And, you know,

13:19perhaps I'm the only one to have positive feelings.

13:21I don't know.

13:22But I don't think so.

13:23Okay.

13:25Thanks for one of you.

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