De Laurentiis: 'Conte right' on extreme Coppa Italia rotation for Napoli

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis arrives for the screening of the film "Freaks Out" presented in competition on September 8, 2021 during the 78th Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis was not upset at the Coppa Italia exit to Parma, insisting Antonio Conte ‘was absolutely right’ to rotate the squad.

The Partenopei are not in European competition this season, so their only fixtures other than Serie A were in the Coppa Italia.

That too was taken off the table after last night’s 3-1 defeat to Lazio, where Conte changed all 11 of the players who had started the previous round in Serie A.

Conte has been criticised in the media for underestimating the competition, but De Laurentiis rushed to his aid.

De Laurentiis content for Napoli to snub CoppaTijjani Noslin of SS Lazio celebrates a third goal during the Italy Frecciarossa Cup match between SS Lazio v Napoli at Stadio Olimpico in Rome on December 05, 2024 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images)

“I agree with him, he was absolutely right to use 11 different players,” the Napoli President told reporters at a book event this evening.

“It was a super training session against Lazio and a life lesson for the team.”

Their absence from European tournaments should’ve given Napoli an excuse to focus on going further than the Round of 16 in the Coppa Italia.

“We knew that changing so much, it wouldn’t have been easy, clearly if we had kept more of the usual XI then it would’ve been a more balanced game.

“The coach needed to give space to other players and that is what he did. The result does not matter. We can allow ourselves experimentation, like Conte did against Lazio.”

Tijjani Noslin bagged a hat-trick to give Lazio the 3-1 victory at the Stadio Olimpico, with Giovanni Simeone getting a consolation.

Curiously, these teams will face off again this weekend in Serie A, but it will be at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday evening.

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