Just a month and a half after the defeat at the Dall’Ara, which had looked like it could become an unhealable wound for the Partenopei, Napoli get their revenge on Bologna and lift the Supercoppa in Riyadh.
Less than six weeks have passed, yet it feels like a lifetime ago. It was November 9 when, after the heavy loss in Bologna, Antonio Conte let out a cry of pain and alarm:
“I’m worried, the positive energy from a year ago is gone: either I’m making mistakes or someone isn’t listening to me. In Naples, after a Scudetto, we finished tenth, and that should have been a lesson.”
Few would have bet that the disjointed, toothless Napoli seen at the Dall’Ara—ravaged by injuries and lacking the fire of competitive fury in their eyes—could bounce back so quickly, forcefully re-enter the title race and, less than a month and a half later, lift the first trophy of the season, precisely against Bologna.
This is Conte’s victory, the triumph of his obsession with winning, built through relentless work and total dedication to finding solutions where others see only problems. The tactical switch introduced by the coach went hand in hand with a clear change in mentality from his players, and that can only be credited to the man on the bench.
The Supercoppa final had a dominant figure on the sidelines and, above all, one outstanding interpreter on the pitch: David Neres. He often looks like someone who has stumbled into the action by chance, yet for over a month now he has been decisive like a true top player.
The Brazilian’s brace quite literally broke Bologna’s resistance, with the Rossoblù rarely able to impose their football over the course of the match.
Conte’s Napoli are once again the perfect embodiment of “Contismo”: they play with the ferocity of a provincial side, but can rely on the quality of their stars, who in the end always make the difference.
A perfect circle closes, starting from the lowest point of Conte’s Napoli tenure—that November 9 in Bologna—and ending with the second trophy lifted by the coach from Lecce under the shadow of Vesuvius.
From Bologna to Naples (where Conte’s side have built much of their seasonal success, in the impregnable fortress of the Maradona, in front of their own fans), via Riyadh, where Bologna themselves experienced firsthand just how quickly Napoli managed to shed their old skin.
Thanks to Antonio Conte, an enlightened and winning leader. Knowing him, he certainly won’t stop here: appetite comes with eating, as the saying goes, and if you are Antonio Conte, your hunger for trophies never truly fades.
L’articolo Conte’s triumph proviene da Soccer Made In Italy.
