Napoli eliminated from the Cup, Conte talked about injuries and refereeing, then said: Stories about the Scudetto are ridiculous

After being eliminated from the Champions League, Napoli were also eliminated from the Italian Cup in the quarter-finals last night, losing to Como on penalties (7:6, 1:1 in regular time). The current Italian champion has major problems with injuries, and that is exactly what coach Antonio Conte talked about, as well as refereeing and the Scudetto, after last night's game.

"Let's not talk about the referees, because someone will always complain about their decisions. The season for referees on the pitch and in the VAR room is not good. I hope they can improve the situation by the end of the season. The fact is that this season coaches, players and fans are complaining. Just as clubs work on improving during the season, so too must we work on improving the refereeing," said Conte after the match.

Como took the lead in regular time after a Baturina penalty, and Vergara scored for Napoli.

"Congratulations to the boys. It wasn't easy to face Como, who played their last game 10 days ago. We played away against Genoa on Saturday, and in that match we lost another player because Scott McTominay was injured. And he is very important for us," Conte pointed out.

Napoli only has matches left in Serie A until the end of the season.

"I can only praise the players, because we are going beyond our limits. In the last year and a half we have won Serie A and the Italian Super Cup. Given the team we currently have at our disposal, any coach would struggle. I thank the fans, they see the effort we are putting in. Despite all the difficulties, we were close to reaching the semi-finals of the Cup," said Conte.

Journalists asked the Italian coach if Napoli could challenge Inter for the Scudetto. After 24 matches, Inter are the leaders in the table, nine points ahead of the Neapolitans.

"What an absurd question," laughed Conte, then continued:

"What we can only do at this point is to go and pray, because we have had problems with injuries all season. Six or seven important players are out. I don't think anything like this has ever happened to a club. In these circumstances, what we are doing during the season is very positive. We are nine points behind Inter, we have serious problems with injuries, and you are talking about the Scudetto. We have to be serious in our questions and assessments, otherwise it becomes very funny," concluded Conte.

Napoli welcomes Roma in the continuation of Serie A on Sunday (20:45).