Champions Napoli must learn from disastrous title defence, says Conte

Serie A champions Napoli must be humble and learn from the mistakes they made during their disastrous title defence in the 2023-24 campaign, manager Antonio Conte has warned.

Napoli endured a turbulent 2023-24 campaign, finishing 10th and going through three managers after coach Luciano Spalletti left the club. Spalletti had led them to their first Scudetto title in 33 years in the 2022-23 season.

Conte, who won three Serie A titles as manager of Juventus and one at Inter Milan along with a Premier League trophy with Chelsea, was handed the responsibility of reviving Napoli in June last year and promptly won them the Scudetto in the recently concluded season.

"By definition, those who have the Scudetto on their jersey are favourites or among the favourites. We must not shy away or hide out of fear," Conte told reporters on Friday.

"We have worked hard to tailor ourselves. It is inevitable that this year will be very challenging.

"But there is a very recent past that we must never forget. We must learn lessons even from negative things. What happened two years ago must be a lesson, especially to the environment. We are on the field and we work, there will never be any flights of fancy. We will be very humble."

Napoli have strengthened their title-winning squad with the addition of Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, Dutch winger Noa Lang and Italian centre back Luca Marianucci, among others.

De Bruyne, regarded as one of the greatest midfielders in Premier League history, lifted 19 trophies at Manchester City since his 2015 move from German side VfL Wolfsburg — a haul that includes six Premier League titles and one Champions League crown.

Conte hopes the 34-year-old can help Napoli take that extra step.

"He comes to us to take on a new challenge, it is a different situation for him too: he has already reached very high levels in his career and has a lot more to give to football," Conte added.

Napoli begin their pre-season with a friendly match against Arezzo on Tuesday.