Napoli boss Antonio Conte has fond memories of his time at Inter Milan but the Italian said on Friday that his side will give no quarter when his league leaders face the reigning champions in a top-of-the-table clash in Serie A.
Conte revived Inter and helped them break Juventus’s nine-year stranglehold on the Scudetto, stopping their run in the 2020-21 season to win the title for the first time since their treble-winning campaign in 2009-10.
Now at Napoli, a club that is looking to return to the heights of their 2022-23 title win, Conte’s side are top of Serie A with 25 points after 11 games – a point above Inter ahead of Sunday’s clash at the San Siro.
“It’s definitely nice to return to where I worked and won. Yes, two happy years,” Conte told reporters.
“It was a wonderful experience that I carry within me, like all the past ones that I lived to the fullest.”
Napoli’s winning run in Serie A came to a grinding halt against Atalanta last weekend when Conte’s side were beaten 3-0 and the Italian said he is in no mood to drop three points again against Simone Inzaghi’s team.
“The three points is always important, it is inevitable that we face a team that today, for everything they have shown, is the strongest team,” Conte said.
“We are not going to San Siro to wave the white flag before starting, but convinced to play our cards. Then we will see what happens. We are preparing in a major way, as we always do.
“It will be an important test, we will measure ourselves against the best and it will be important to understand our progress. Do not forget that we arrive at the top of the table… and the objective is to remain at the top.”
Napoli striker Romelu Lukaku has scored only one goal in his last four games but when asked about his form, Conte said he was tired of questions about the Belgian striker.
“At every blessed conference there is always the question about Lukaku. It becomes a bit, not annoying, but we are talking about the team. Lukaku’s growth depends on the growth of the team,” Conte said.
“But I am confident because I see them every day, they want to work and improve. I see a lot of commitment and I would not reduce it to a single player. It is not fair to the others.”
