Napoli will be able to restart on a positive note after the break: here’s what Conte can smile about and continue working on for the season finale
The drab draw against Venezia left Napoli fans with a bitter taste in their mouths. A 0-0 that smacks of a wasted opportunity, with the Azzurri able to stay glued to Inter and take advantage of Atalanta’s defeat in their direct clash with the Nerazzurri.
Instead, the fifth draw in seven matches has caused Conte’s team to slip three points off the top, a gap that, at this point in the season, seems like a mountain to climb. But not everything is to be thrown away: there is one statistic that puts a smile back on the Lecce coach’s face and could be the springboard to the Serie A finish.
The Napoli seen in Venice turned the fans’ noses up at the game, and who could blame them? The Azzurri had a golden chance on their hands to stay hooked to the Inter train, which is traveling fast toward the Scudetto, and put some distance between themselves and Atalanta, which fell at home against the Nerazzurri.
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Instead, the 0-0 was another blow to the heart: the fifth draw in seven games, a roster that smacks of chances thrown to the wind. “With one commitment a week, we should have done more,” read X among supporters’ comments, and thoughts turn to those wasted chances in front of the Lagoon goal.
The distance from Inter is now three points, and closing the gap looks like a pulse-pounding task, especially if Napoli does not regain the continuity that had led them to dream big. Inzaghi’s cynical and ruthless Inter capitalized on every opportunity, while the Azzurri seem to have lost their nastiness under the goal.
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But Conte is not one to give up: the break will be a time to get his head back on straight, even with half the team scattered around the world with national teams. And there is one fact that brings a smile to his face, a ray of sunshine on a gray day.
L’impatto di Conte sul futuro (LaPresse) – SpazioNapoli.it
So what is there to celebrate after such a draw? The answer lies entirely in Napoli’s defense and newfound cleansheet. For the first time in two months, Alex Meret returned to close the shutter: zero goals conceded against Venezia, a feat he had not managed since January 12 against Verona.
Eight consecutive games with the goal violated – a streak that had made even the most optimistic turn their noses up – were broken by a solid performance, with Buongiorno and Rrahmani putting up a wall in front of the lagoon. The national team break comes as a boon to recharge the batteries, even though 12 Azzurri players flew with their respective selections.
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Yet despite the misstep in Laguna, Conte can look ahead with a hint of optimism. Napoli regained a defensive solidity that had been missing for too long, a cleansheet that breaks a negative streak and gives hope.
With only 9 days ahead, the season finale is a puzzle that Napoli must solve quickly. Three points from Inter are not an abyss, but without a decisive turnaround the Scudetto risks fading like a waking dream. Conte knows this: we need continuity, the kind that has been lacking in recent weeks, and we need to rediscover killer instinct up front. But the Venice cleansheet is a brick to build on.
Conte will have less time to work with the group these days, but the return of defensive solidity is a starting point. Perhaps, with a bit of luck and the return to the top of pawns such as Neres, Napoli can get back in the thick of things. Conte can smile, because from that newfound wall they can start again to chase Inter and play everything until the last breath.
