Conte: ‘Napoli making me a better coach, Lukaku has suffered so much’

Antonio Conte is happy for Romelu Lukaku’s comeback goal to beat Verona, feels this season is ‘making me a better coach’ and warns Napoli still ‘risk missing out on Europe.’

It was shaping up to be another tense evening for the Partenopei, who had scraped one point from the last two Serie A rounds.

Rasmus Hojlund had opened the scoring, then his deflection wrong-footed Alex Meret on the Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro strike, but with the last kick of the game Romelu Lukaku popped up with the winner at the Stadio Bentegodi.

Conte learning from Napoli struggles

“This is a season that I will carry with me, because it is teaching me so much about how to deal with situations I’d never experienced before,” Conte told DAZN Italia.

“A coach also has to appeal to the human element, find the right words, know the balance between the carrot and the stick.

“This experience is improving me in so many ways. Dealing with all these situations is not at all easy. I feel that it is making me a better coach.

“We find a way to stay on our feet and find the right way through, not just on a football level, but as human beings too.”

There had been so much controversy over the refereeing in recent weeks, and there was more here, as Napoli felt there was a foul before the corner was awarded for the Verona goal.

However, Lukaku made his mark off the bench with his first goal in nine months, having missed most of the season with a detached tendon.

“Lukaku had such a serious injury, I know all too well how much he has suffered with this situation, as he wants to help Napoli and help me, for the rapport that we have,” continued Conte.

“We are cuddling him and working hard, he is not yet the player that we know, but he’s getting there. This goal will give him confidence, the World Cup is coming up, I’d love for both him and Kevin De Bruyne to play in it.”

Lukaku had not scored in Serie A since May 2025 against Cagliari, a gap of 281 days, and perhaps had not expected to net such a decisive, dramatic goal.

“He had another couple of chances, including against Juventus. We know he can make his presence felt in the penalty area. If you are attacking, and the opponents are defending in numbers, Lukaku becomes a fundamental figure.

“If you are attacking the space, he might struggle a little more. We threw him on and he did his job. I hope it will give him confidence, we need everyone.”

Napoli had been about to drop more precious points and risk sliding out of the top four, but this result keeps them in the Champions League spots ahead of Roma vs. Juventus.

When asked about his future, Conte made some cryptic comments.

“I signed a three-year contract, so there is still one left to go. Let’s think about the present, so we can write ourselves the best possible future, which means playing in the Champions League.

“It’s going to be a tough fight, we know that, because other teams are in better situations, while we are trying to get players back in shape.

“We know that we genuinely risk missing out on Europe entirely, we are scraping the bottom of the barrel here. We did well to take the points home today, knowing that we can play much better than this.”