The Champions League is not for Antonio Conte

NAPLES, THURSDAY — There always seems to be an obstacle for Antonio Conte to achieve glory in the UEFA Champions League. The Napoli coach once again experienced the bitterness of failure as his team was eliminated by Chelsea in the final match of the group stage. Napoli, which performed heroically despite being without several star players, lost 2-3.

During the halftime break, Napoli still had the opportunity to advance to the round of 16 thanks to a 2-1 lead. The defending champions of Serie A initially fell behind due to a penalty goal by Enzo Fernandez in the 19th minute. The instinct for survival prompted "The Donkeys" to increase their attacking tempo, successfully equalizing through goals from Antonio Vergara and Rasmus Hojlund in the middle of the first half.

"This is disappointing, especially considering last week's results in Copenhagen. Tonight, Chelsea performed better in the final third of the field, but our players overall played well. I want to continue in this competition," said Conte after the match held at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, Naples, Thursday (29/1/2026) early morning WIB.

That advantage briefly propelled Napoli into the playoff zone. On the other hand, Chelsea slipped from the top eight positions to tenth place. If there are no changes, Chelsea will be forced to compete for a spot in the round of 16 through the playoff route. This scenario is highly avoided by English teams as it would waste their time in February.

As much as possible, Chelsea hopes to advance to the round of 16 without going through the play-off route, but rather qualify automatically by finishing in the top eight of the league phase. For this reason, Chelsea's coach Liam Rosenior made several adjustments in the second half. One crucial thing he did was to substitute Cole Palmer for Pedro Neto, who had underperformed in the first half.

As much as possible, Chelsea hopes to advance to the round of 16 without going through the play-off route, but rather qualify automatically by finishing in the top eight of the league phase. For this reason, Chelsea's coach Liam Rosenior made several adjustments in the second half. One crucial thing he did was to substitute Cole Palmer for Pedro Neto, who had underperformed in the first half.

Playing Palmer is a gamble because the player has not fully recovered after being plagued by injuries for almost the entire season. With his creativity and playing vision, Palmer provided a well-placed pass to Joao Pedro, who successfully equalized in the 61st minute.

The combination of Pedro, Palmer, and Enzo paved the way for Chelsea to the round of 16. Pedro scored again in an identical manner, with an accurate long-range shot eight minutes before the end of regular time. Joao Pedro's goal shook Napoli's fighting spirit, which was eager to regain the lead.

Rosenior acknowledged that the decision to bench Palmer was partly due to fitness issues. The other part was to ensure that he could make an impact in the match towards the end.

"It is impossible for Cole to be a starter and play for 60, 70, or 80 minutes. I know Napoli has injury problems and I feel we will become stronger as the matches progress. We need to take care of him, and the way he has managed himself over the last two weeks has been remarkable. We hope to see him in fully fit condition," said Rosenior as quoted by BBC Sport.

An important victory at Napoli's home ground has propelled Chelsea from eighth to sixth place in the league phase. This means Chelsea will not have to undergo home and away matches in the playoff phase. This situation is highly advantageous for Chelsea as their schedule in February is not congested, despite still competing in four competitions this season.

At the moment when the Chelsea players joyfully celebrated their success, Antonio Conte could only manage a bitter smile upon realizing that his team had failed to maintain their lead, jeopardizing their hopes of advancing to the round of 16. Conte's expression reflected deep disappointment.

It cannot be denied that Conte is very curious about the Champions League. Although he is well-known for his ability to lead teams to win domestic leagues, Conte's reputation in the Champions League is not as smooth.

His best achievement in the European club competition was reaching the quarter-finals with Juventus in the 2012-2013 season. Beyond that, Conte often failed to lead his team further. He even struggled to take Inter Milan past the group stage in the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 editions.

Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that Conte and Napoli have made every effort to fight as best as they can this time. "The Donkey" performed heroically by managing to match the luxurious squad of Chelsea at a time when Conte was troubled by the injuries of two of his key players, Kevin de Bruyne and Billy Gilmour. Without the two, Napoli was still able to challenge Chelsea, who maintained a pressing game throughout the match with a high defensive line.

Despite being pressured by Chelsea even from the start of their attack from the back, Napoli's players remained calm and strong in maintaining possession of the ball. Generally, a team opts to play direct forward when facing a team with a high defensive line. Napoli, on the contrary, was not affected by Chelsea's pressure and continued to play short passes from foot to foot.

Napoli repeatedly created problems with crosses to wing-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo on the right side and Mathias Olivera on the left. Chelsea countered this by focusing on strengthening their defense. The Chelsea players attempted to outnumber Napoli in the penalty area to fend off the dangerous crosses.

"There are several positive aspects that can be taken from this match. However, everyone is clearly disappointed because we did not qualify," said Hojlund.