Coach Antonio Conte and the "curse" at UEFA Champions League
Coach Antonio Conte's Napoli just had a disappointing away trip when they were crushed by the home team PSV Eindhoven with a score of 6-2.
Marching to Philips Stadium, the goal of coach Antonio Conte and his team is nothing other than a victory. Simply compared to PSV Eindhoven, the team from Italy is rated much higher in terms of strength. Specifically, Napoli owns a series of quality stars such as Kevin De Bruyne and Scott Mctominay.
In the first minutes of the match in the Netherlands, the reigning Serie A champions showed their strength. In the 31st minute, Scott Mctominay broke through PSV Eindhoven's net, giving Napoli the lead. It was thought that coach Antonio Conte and his team would have an easy away trip.
"The joy was short-lived", just 4 minutes after the former Man United player's goal, Napoli had to concede an own goal by Alessandro Buongiorno (minute 35). This loss opened a terrible night for Kevin De Bruyne and his teammates in the "land of tulips".
In the second half, things got even worse for coach Antonio Conte and his team. In addition to Lorenzo Lucca's red card, goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had to pick the ball out of the net four times. In the end, Napoli were defeated by PSV Eindhoven with a score of 6 - 2, similar to the score of a tennis set.
Up to this point, Napoli has only got 3 points after 3 matches (1 win, 2 losses), temporarily standing in the bottom half of the rankings. If they do not improve their performance, the risk of having to stop right at the qualifying round for coach Antonio Conte and his team is very clear.
It seems that coach Antonio Conte has not yet "broken his bad luck" in the UEFA Champions League arena. Although he has helped Juventus, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Napoli win the domestic championship, the 56-year-old strategist often suffers defeat in the most prestigious arena of European football.
In the past, coach Antonio Conte's best achievement in the UEFA Champions League was helping Juventus reach the quarter-finals in the 2012/2013 season. That was also the first season that the strategist born in 1969 enjoyed the atmosphere of the UEFA Champions League arena.
However, Napoli's journey in the 2025/2026 UEFA Champions League is still quite long. Before the end of the qualifying round, coach Antonio Conte and his team will meet Eintracht Frankfurt, Qarabag, Benfica, Copenhagen and Chelsea. Napoli's chance of reaching the knockout round is very bright.
Hopefully, coach Antonio Conte will be able to erase his "curse" to help the Naples team compete successfully in the UEFA Champions League 2025/2026. Don't forget, in the UEFA Champions League 1995/1996, coach Antonio Conte and Juventus won the championship.
