Antonio Conte believes his side have regained momentum in the Serie A title race following their 2-1 home win over AC Milan on Sunday.
Inter had beat Udinese 2-1 earlier on Sunday, with this win moving Napoli back within three points of the Serie A leaders, while third-placed Atalanta lost 1-0 at Fiorentina.
Napoli had taken a 2-0 lead through goals from Matteo Politano and Romelu Lukaku, with Luka Jovic pulling one back for Milan in the 84th minute, though the hosts were able to hold on.
Conte’s side are given a 16% chance of getting their hands on the Scudetto by the Opta supercomputer, with Inter still the overwhelming favourites with 83.7%.
“It’s an important result that allows us to stay in Inter’s slipstream and distance ourselves from fifth place,” Conte told DAZN.
“The Champions League places weren’t even our initial goal. We started out trying to get into Europe, but now we are there, and after eight months of work, it would be crazy not to believe in something extraordinary.”
Napoli dominated the first half, having five attempts, with three on target, while Milan were unable to test Alex Meret.
However, Milan, who also missed a penalty in the second half, forced Conte to adjust his tactical approach as they pushed in the second half, having 12 shots worth 2.19 expected goals. Four of their efforts were on target, while Napoli did not have any.
“This is one of those days when I hate being a coach,” he said. “We dominated the first half, but let’s not forget that AC Milan are a very good team … and that they strengthened in January.”
Scott McTominay was left out due to flu symptoms, and Leonardo Spinazzola was sidelined with an injury, while David Neres returned to the starting line-up.
“We lost McTominay at the last minute, so I had to take the risk,” Conte explained.
“Also, I had to force the situation with Frank Anguissa, who returned from international duty with an injury and David Neres hadn’t played for a long time either.”
Napoli had won just one of their previous seven league matches prior to Sunday, and Conte said this win injected a new sense of optimism into their title pursuit.
However, even with that positivity, Conte insisted his team take the rest of the season one step at a time.
“We have to be aware that we are doing something extraordinary and miraculous,” he said.
“Yet, we have to be fierce; there are eight games left, and then we will think about the future.”
