Conte: "We arrived lacking clarity. We felt tired, we need to recover."

Antonio Conte doesn't cut corners when commenting on Napoli's Portuguese night. Speaking to Prime, he acknowledged that the team entered the match against Benfica exhausted by a run of matches in which they've almost always featured the same players. "Such a tough game came at the worst possible time, we knew that," he said, implying that the team's mental alertness wasn't up to the level required for a Champions League away game. The coach admitted that the schedule didn't help, noting that Benfica had more rest. But he didn't resort to excuses: "The fatigue was inevitable, both physical and mental, and we must be ready to take it into account."

It's the mind, even more than the legs, that's been blamed. Conte explains it with extreme clarity: "When you lack mental brilliance, decisions become imprecise and trivial errors multiply." The start to the match, described as complicated, would have robbed a group of confidence coming off weeks of high intensity and a virtually impossible rotation. His words paint a picture of a fragile team as it struggles to build confidence and rhythm.

The coach looks ahead realistically, knowing the problem won't go away in a few days. "Our situation won't change immediately, and we'll have to live with it for a while," he says, confident, however, in the recovery of key players like Lobotka and Gutierrez. His most concrete concern is that Napoli could once again fall victim to the lackluster starts and lapses that have cost them dearly so far. The goal now is to rebuild energy and clarity before the Champions League definitively turns into an impossible climb.