Antonio Conte refused to be too downbeat after Napoli’s frustrating draw with Serie A strugglers Venezia, insisting the result “changes nothing” for his team.
Napoli were held to a goalless draw by Serie A’s 19th-placed team at Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo on Sunday.
The visitors accumulated 1.67 expected goals to Venezia’s 0.74, but could not find a way past home goalkeeper Andrei Radu, who made seven saves, his most in a single league match this term.
Conte, though, does not feel his team should be too concerned as to the overall state of the title race, with leaders Inter facing third-place Atalanta later on Sunday.
“To us it changes nothing, we have to look at ourselves and give everything as we did today,” he told DAZN.
“Then in the end we’ll see the products of our efforts. I’ve always been critical when there was something to be critical about. Not today, it’s a game we deserved to win but a draw fits.”
Conte was frustrated by a lack of a clinical edge, however, while he was also concerned by a big chance Venezia created late on.
8 – Antonio Conte has earned eight points in his last seven league games; in #SerieA, in a series of seven games in a single season, it is his worst result since 2010 with Atalanta (four in that case). Difficulty.
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) March 16, 2025
“I am satisfied with the performance, then we wanted to win it. The positive aspect is that we created a lot, the negative is that we didn’t convert them,” Conte added.
“The thing that bothered me was the six versus two counter-attack at the end – that must never happen. We switched off our brains at that moment and it must never happen.
“We had to be more incisive, the one who scores goals wins. There are nine games to go, we’ll try to be a nuisance until the end, fighting tooth and nail.”
Napoli next host AC Milan on March 30, after the international break, which Conte said would afford his exhausted squad vital respite.
“We only have half a team left. We’ll use the break to continue working, perhaps organising a few friendlies for those who arrived in January so they can get into better context and condition,” he added.
“We will certainly complete the recovery of David Neres. Hopefully those who go to the national team will come back safe and sound.”
