Conte apologizes for Napoli 'debacle'

Antonio Conte apologized to Napoli fans after Sunday's 3-0 humiliation at Verona in his first Serie A match in charge.

Verona new boys Dailon Livramento and Daniel Mosquera were on target, the latter twice, in the second half at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, giving Conte a nightmare start at troubled Napoli.

"We have to say sorry to our supporters, because it was a second half that was, well, it's difficult even to assess what happened," a baffled Conte told DAZN.

"In the first half, there was only one team on the pitch, and it was Napoli. Then, we came out for the second half maybe too pleased with ourselves for the first-half performance, even though we were still goalless. But, it wasn't the same attitude as in the first half."

Conte blasted his team, who only scraped past Serie B outfit Modena on penalties in the Italian Cup the previous weekend, for melting "like snow" once Livramento put Verona ahead four minutes after halftime.

"It is really worrying. Good teams react to difficult situations, but we completely fell apart," added Conte.

"I'm the coach and it's my responsibility, so I apologize. It was a debacle and it's my fault."

On Saturday, Conte described this season as "year zero", after Napoli finished 10th last season as defending champion in its disastrous campaign, during which it went through three different coaches.

The former Juventus, Chelsea and Italy coach also warned against heightened expectations from fans, as he waits on reinforcements while Victor Osimhen has been frozen out for pushing for a transfer.

Elsewhere in the league, last season's surprise package Bologna was held to a 1-1 draw by Udinese.

AFP