Conte urges Napoli to respond from Serie A setback against 'excellent' PSV

Antonio Conte has urged his Napoli players not to dwindle from their Serie A defeat to Torino at the weekend as they return to Champions League action on Tuesday. 

Conte watched on as his Napoli team surrendered top spot to AC Milan after Giovanni Simeone's 32nd-minute strike clinched all three points at Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino. 

It was just Napoli's second league defeat of the season, but their attentions now turn to the European stage, with a trip to Philips Stadion to take on PSV up next. 

The only previous meetings between PSV and Napoli came in the 2012-13 Europa League group stage – the Dutch side won both home (3-0) and away (3-1) fixtures, despite finishing behind the Partenopei in Group F that year. 

Napoli have lost each of their last three away games in the Champions League.

If they lose here, it would equal their longest losing streak away from home in the competition, which was four games between February and December 2017. The fourth game in that stretch came away to a Dutch side, losing 2-1 at Feyenoord.

But Conte was keen to focus on the positives from their defeat in Turin, but acknowledged the difficulties his team will face against the Eredivisie giants. 

"I liked the performance in Turin, but the result was obviously negative and affects the general judgement," Conte told reporters.

"Now, we have to face up to this match against an excellent team, who won the Dutch championship last season. They are always key players. 

"They play a particular type of football, we have to be very careful, but we did not come here to play the victim, but to play the game.

"There will be two phases, we will try to do them both in the best possible way."

Conte added that it is only natural that this season feels tougher compared to last given that there was no European football to focus on during the 2024-25 campaign. 

He believes that the increase in fixtures may be part of the reason why Napoli have conceded more goals this term compared to the same stage last season. 

"Compared to last season, we've conceded more goals but have scored more. The average has increased. Even in our last game, we had a lot of opportunities to score," he said.

"It's inevitable that we need more than just solidity, though, because the number of games has increased significantly compared to last year.

"Maybe this is what exposes you a bit, to counter-attacks and other risks."

A lot of questions were also put to Conte about Noa Lang, who returns to PSV following his reported €28m move to Naples over the summer. 

Lang spent two seasons with PSV, winning the Eredivisie title twice, including a dramatic win in 2024-25 as they overturned Ajax's nine-point lead to finish top of the table.

The 26-year-old made 63 appearances for the Dutch champions in all competitions, netting 14 goals and registering 12 assists during that time.

However, his career at Napoli has yet to take flight, as he has failed to register a goal or an assist across five appearances in all competitions, all of which have been from the bench. 

"I think Noa is growing a lot from a tactical point of view, because he had a lot more freedom of movement in Holland, he worked a lot on an offensive level," Conte added.

"When we decided to play with four midfielders, we had to make a sacrifice somewhere else, and that happened on the left.

"We had to look for an alternative solution to give us width, which we get from the full-back.

"I played Neres on the left when we went to a 4-3-3 because I thought he was more ready to play.

"Today, though, Neres can play on the right and Lang will soon get a game in the starting line-up. He's growing and working, he has to continue like this."