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Napoli bowed out of Europe's premier club competition on Thursday, with a 3-2 defeat at home to Chelsea ending its chances of climbing into the play-off places.

The Partenopei – who are in the midst of an injury crisis that has deprived them of Kevin De Bruyne, David Neres, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and several other players – finished 30th in the 36-team league phase.

Things have gone better domestically, though a recent slump has Conte's side nine points adrift of Scudetto front-runner Inter, in fourth place.

Napoli hosts Fiorentina on Sunday, and Conte sees no reason why the game could not have been played later, given that neither team is in midweek action next week.

"I think the performance [against Chelsea] should be appreciated; the way we played, with courage, going toe to toe with a team that's built to achieve great things," Conte said.

"We were clearly in big trouble in terms of players' availability. Let's not forget that these same players will be playing again on Saturday. 

"You have to wonder who had the bright idea to schedule us at 18:00 on Saturday against Fiorentina, considering there's a free week anyway. That leaves me a bit puzzled."

Fiorentina, meanwhile, is 18th, having missed the chance to climb out of the relegation zone after last week's 2-1 defeat to Cagliari.

Paolo Vanoli's side was also dumped out of the Coppa Italia by Como on Wednesday, but he is still preoccupied with the fact that it dropped points against a direct rival last Sunday.

"Against our direct rivals, we've earned few points and lost too many. This should make us realise that survival depends on these games," he said.

"Every head-to-head match is worth six points. Even if we play like we did against Cagliari, we have to be much more focused. 

"They scored the second goal against us, and we were down four against one. We need to be better when chasing back."