Conte lauds Napoli's injury-ravaged squad
Antonio Conte heaped praise on his Napoli squad after it booked its place in the Supercoppa Italiana final despite missing several key players for its win over AC Milan.
Conte watched on as his team beat Milan 2-0 at Al-Awwal Park on Friday (AEDT), with David Neres and Rasmus Hojlund on target in a comfortable victory for the Scudetto holder.
Napoli joined Roma in fifth place overall with the most Supercopa final appearances (six), behind Juventus (17), Milan (13), Inter (13) and Lazio (eight).
But the Partenopei boss was particularly impressed with how his squad have dealt with adversity in recent weeks, having been handed several setbacks because of injury.
The likes of Frank Anguissa, Billy Gilmour, Kevin De Bruyne and Alex Meret were all absent from the trip to Riyadh, with Napoli also coming into the game on the back of consecutive defeats in all competitions to Benfica and Udinese.
"I realise it is boring to repeat the same things, but when you play every three days with very few players available, it's inevitable that there will be some setbacks," Conte said.
"It's what happened last week and could well happen in the future. We wanted to play a strong performance against a great team full of talented players.
"Our style of football is very energetic and demanding, we don't just try to defend and counter. I am glad because these lads showed they want to challenge for this trophy."
Conte attacked his injury situation by making three changes to the team that lost to Udinese, while also deploying Eljif Elmas in a more advanced midfield role.
But it was Neres and Hojlund who stole the show, with the Brazilian opening the scoring in the 39th minute before the win was sealed just after the hour by the on-loan Manchester United striker.
In Neres (eight – four goals, four assists) and Hojlund (nine – seven goals, two assists), the two Napoli players who have been involved in the most goals across all competitions in 2025-2026 found the back of the net against Milan.
"We are doing alright physically, but it is inevitable that so many games saps your energy," Conte said.
"We paid a price for the recent wins, as we were drained against Benfica and in the second half by Udinese, but today we moved very well as a team unit.
"When we manage to work as a team, regardless of who is playing, then we are competitive. We've got to continue like this going forward.
"Those who were injured are still out, but the new players are now more involved than they were earlier in the season.
"I always said that I expected this to be a complicated campaign, but I didn't expect this many injuries."
Hojlund also became the first Danish player ever to score in an Italian Super Cup match with an expert finish into the bottom-right corner after spinning in behind Koni De Winter.
He did so with Romelu Lukaku watching on, with the Belgian named on the bench for the first time this season after spending four months out with a thigh injury.
"First of all, let's try to get Romelu back to full fitness," Conte said of a potential partnership between Hojlund and Lukaku. "He is such an important player for us, with so much experience.
"Just having him on the bench is important. I hope that we have many more games to play, so both will have chances.
"We are doing what we need to do now. There are players who are adapting to different roles, so I am getting a good response from everyone."
