Antonio Conte and the Maradona Stadium are No Longer Lucky for Napoli

NAPLES, WEDNESDAY — Napoli never imagined at the beginning of this season that the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium would witness their lowest point in two competitions, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League. "The Little Donkey" was eliminated from both events while playing at home and in front of their passionate supporters.

Two weeks after their 2-3 defeat to Chelsea, which resulted in their failure to remain in the top 24 of the Champions League qualifying round, the players of Napoli once again had to hang their heads in disappointment and shame during the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia, Wednesday (11/2/2026 WIB).

They succumbed 6-7 in a dramatic penalty shootout against Como. The support of tens of thousands of supporters was unable to elevate Napoli's performance, which only managed a 1-1 draw during the 90 minutes of normal time.

The result caused Napoli's chances of winning a major trophy to evaporate early. They did indeed secure the Supercoppa Italiana trophy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last December, but for the Italian public, the tournament is merely on par with exhibition matches like the Trofeo Berlusconi, which was regularly held by AC Milan in the early 2000s as part of their preseason.

On the other hand, Conte is also finding it very difficult to defend the Scudetto in Serie A. The Little Donkey is now nine points behind Inter Milan, who currently hold the top spot.

For Conte, the current situation at Napoli marks a blemish in his coaching career. He is at risk of not delivering a trophy in his second season with Napoli. This stands in stark contrast to the circumstances when he won three consecutive Serie A titles with Juventus, followed by winning Serie A in his second season coaching Inter Milan.

Regardless of the painful final result, Conte felt a deeper hurt from the defeat against Como due to the failure of his two key players, Romelu Lukaku and Stanislav Lobotka, to execute penalties. In addition, he assessed the officiating by referee Gianluca Manzanillo as not demonstrating good performance.

Conte strongly protested the referee in the 49th minute for not issuing a second yellow card to Como defender, Jacobo Ramon, for fouling Napoli forward, Rasmus Hojlund. In the replay, Ramon was deemed deserving of a yellow card for obstructing Hojlund's body and not touching the ball at all in a situation favorable to the home team.

"This is certainly not a good season for the referees and VAR. I hope they can find something to improve the situation, as many parties are complaining about their performance," Conte said after the match to Mediaset.

"Just as we continue to remind the team to develop, the refereeing authorities must also improve the performance of the referees and VAR officials. This situation is not good for us, nor for football," he continued.

Like in the failure to advance to the knockout stage of the Champions League, Conte once again highlighted the injury crisis that continues to loom over his squad. Although Lukaku has returned to play, Napoli is still missing their captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo, as well as three key midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne, Scott McTominay, and Billy Gilmour.

This situation made it difficult for Napoli to keep up with Como's game. As the host and favored team, Napoli was instead pressured more and had to chase the ball. The Little Donkey only managed to collect 48 percent possession and had two shots on target from eight attempts.

Conversely, Como, with 52 percent ball possession, was able to take four shots on target. All of those shots on goal were made from within Napoli's penalty area.

Conte stated that Como played the match under more favorable circumstances. In addition to fielding their best team lineup, he added, Como also had a preparation period of 10 days. It is worth noting that Como did not participate in the week 24 match last weekend against AC Milan at San Siro because the match was postponed for the opening of the Winter Olympics in Italy.

"I can only praise the players because they have maximized themselves beyond their current potential. We have very limited resources, so we cannot approach the ambitions that we should have achieved this season," Conte stated.

In general, he still describes Napoli's performance this season as positive. The serious issues that have caused many players to be injured, he added, will also pose challenges for any team experiencing them.

"Injuries have forced us to play certain players in every match, which has caused them to have issues as well. This result is disappointing, but I am confident that any coach would struggle as I do," said Conte, who has five scudetto titles as a tactician.

Meanwhile, Como has managed to end a 40-year wait to reach the semifinals of the Coppa Italia, since 1986. Their positive performance in Naples was supported by seven successful penalty executions that defeated Napoli's goalkeeper, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

One of the goal scorers was Martin Baturina, who put "I Lariani" ahead in the 39th minute to conclude the first half with a lead. Napoli managed to equalize with a left-footed shot from Antonio Vergara in the 46th minute.

In the penalty shootout, only one Napoli penalty taker missed. Maximo Perrone's shot was saved by Milinkovic-Savic.

"This is a historic journey, a positive time for the team. However, we have important matches ahead starting this Saturday (against Fiorentina). We are determined to celebrate this euphoria at the end of the season," said Como Coach Cesc Fabregas.

Next, Nico Paz and his teammates will challenge Inter Milan. Unlike the previous round, the semifinal phase will be held in a home-and-away format.

The semifinal stage marks the best achievement for Como in the last four decades. In the 1985-1986 season, they failed to advance to the final after losing with an aggregate score of 1-3 to Sampdoria.