Conte: If Napoli seizes these scoring opportunities, the score could be 2-0 or 3-0

November 5th: In the fourth round of the Champions League in the early hours of this morning, Naples drew 0-0 with Frankfurt at home. Naples coach Conte attended the post-match press conference.

What do you think of this game?

It's really strange to see a German team so defensively oriented. If we played like this in Germany, people would say it was Italian defence. But we also tried to do something different tonight and we created some good chances. I tell the players that if you don't score, even if you perform well, the score will be 0-0 and you may even lose. I have nothing to complain about the team's effort.

Frankfurt is in a high-level league like the Bundesliga, but we dominated on the pitch. Of course, you have to score goals, otherwise you're here to explain. And I'm here to explain it now, even though I don't know how to explain it. Ultimately, my interpretation is that if you want to win games you have to put the ball in the goal, just like I said to the players.

Napoli has not scored in two consecutive games. Does this worry you?

I would be more worried if we failed to create scoring chances. Today we had a very clear chance to score and we needed to score, that goes without saying. You can control the ball, dominate the game however you want, create chances, but ultimately you have to put the ball in the goal. If we had seized these scoring opportunities today, the score could have been 2-0 or 3-0, and everyone would be talking about how strong Napoli is. But instead, now I need to explain why the result was 0-0 because we were not good enough and decisive enough in taking our chances. I want to emphasize again that we have a great opportunity. But it's a pity that in the end we have to score and we couldn't score today, and it was the same against Como. That's why I need to explain now.

We strive to play different styles of football. This growth needs to be achieved gradually. When we face difficulties, we must play proactively instead of reacting passively. We're doing this, and there are pros and cons to that. Everyone can say they are ambitious, but I think there needs to be a process of actually doing it. Not just in games, I'm talking about the whole club, from medical, physiotherapy, managing players, not being able to train normally because there's a game every three days. These will become our great experiences. As ambitious as we are, the reality is that we need to go through this growth process together, both on and off the pitch.

Will tonight's draw make your Champions League journey more difficult?

We must take it step by step. Every team hopes to be ranked in the top eight. To do this, some giants need to make mistakes. And we focus on ourselves, taking every step forward and growing by playing a game every three days. We will face different situations and we cannot always think of using the same players moving forward. We have been affected by injuries and there are some players who need to shake off fatigue. We are going through a very good experience this season, but we will also face some problems. All teams hope that the top eight will advance directly to the knockout rounds of the Champions League, but they must also face reality. I can't criticize the players any more, if we can capitalize on those scoring opportunities, now we are talking about a strong Napoli team. I can express my opinion, but then you can draw your own conclusions.

Is there a psychological obstacle to the lack of goals?

I would be more worried if we didn't create chances tonight. Our opponents only thought about defending, but we created many great opportunities. I congratulate them, even though it's a bit strange because German teams always talk about good football, but they play like this. We are trying to show our strengths and weaknesses, today we only used 13 players, and frankly you have to consider the actual situation and understand how to turn difficulties into advantages. One must always face reality while maintaining ambition. We have had a wonderful journey together and we are dealing with the situation and handling it well.

Do you need physical growth or psychological growth?

We need to grow together in all aspects, including injuries and physical recovery. Playing a game every three days revolutionizes both medical and physiotherapy. From this perspective, we have to grow together, both on and off the field.