Napoli, against Milan the obstacle cabala. And that strange intersection between Conte and Conceicao

Naples, 26 March 2025 - Streaks in football exist to be interrupted, for better or for worse: this is what the Napoli in view of the home match against Milan which will mark the resumption of the championship after the last stop dedicated to the National.  

Milan's positive streak in Fuorigrotta and the background on Conceicao and Napoli

  Even though the location of the match for the Azzurri on Sunday evening will be the friendly one of Maradona, the recent trend when the Rossoneri arrive is anything but encouraging. In the last 6 intersections at home with the Diavoloin fact, the Napoli has never won and this is true for both Serie A that for the Champions League, with a report 3 victories for guests and 3 draws. An important streak that in the next round of the championship could take on the shape of history, because never the Milan remained in the beaten track Fuorigrotta for 7 consecutive times. There's always a first time, hope Sergio Conceicao, one who curiously in the 2021 was one step away from sitting on the blue bench. And this time we are leaving the realm of metaphors, because the agreement with Aurelio De Laurentiis had been found before the latter's U-turn due to contractual disagreements. From the usual pause for reflection, the patron went straight to black smoke despite everything being ready for the press conference to present the Portuguese coach, which was supposed to take place in a well-known Roman hotel not far from the headquarters of the Filmauro. Everything fell apart and the Napoli I will turn, the 29st May, so just four days after the black smoke, on Luciano Spalletti: what at first seemed almost like a stopgap choice would instead reveal itself to be one of the greatest and most successful decisions De Laurentiis, which after two springs brought the championship back to the Campania capital thanks to the current coach of the National. A question of 'sliding doors' for everyone: for the Napoli, who will never know if things with conception on the bench would have gone equally well for the latter, who at the time lost a great chance to (re)launch his career, for Spalletti, who with the continuation of his then sabbatical period would not have broken the scudetto taboo, and for De Laurentiis, which as far as coaches go has alternated brilliant catches with others to forget. All these dilemmas remain entangled in the land of the unknown. Today the present is different for each actor in this story and for the clubs themselves: the Napoli chases a another tricolour dream, today far away 3 points, few and many at the same time if we consider the path in the championship and what happened in the last few days and in particular in the shift before the break, while the Milan is only ninth in the standings and, as of today, out of the fight not only for a place in Champions League but even for all continental competitions.

Conte-Milan, between present and future

  Speaking of the bench, the present of the Napoli is called Antonio Conte and, contract until 30 June 2027 in hand, it is a present with a view to a long-term future. Yet, in today's football not even an agreement as important in terms of duration and salary, with 8 million season on the plate between fixed part and bonus, can be enough to chase away any cloud on what will happen next year. In addition to the never banal and indifferent sirens of the Juventus the call of the comes right here Milan, a club that in truth had long courted the Salento coach already last spring before the winning blitz of De Laurentiis. Having it signed by Tale a rich, very rich three-year contract, the patron of the Neapolitan club thought he had secured a partnership that instead could falter soon and not only because of external temptations. The coach's own words have repeatedly made it clear that at the end of the season the parties will have to at least reconvene at the headquarters of Castel Volturno to take stock of the situation not only on the sporting side of the club, the most visible for the fans but not necessarily the most important. For Tale will count - and this is not a play on words - the growth of the Napoli 360 degrees, starting from the structures up to the youth sector. For the first area, something is moving, with the project on the table for the new sports center, which should always be located in Castel Volturno but with much more mammoth proportions and in any case worthy of a company that has been at the top for years Italy and Europe, apart from this year's absence from the cups, while for the youth team, with the Spring still in the second division as an emblem, the road seems to be even longer and more tortuous. Then there is the much closer future that on Sunday evening will put in front Napoli e Milan, with 'only' the mere issues of the pitch at stake. Facing each other, seated on their respective benches, Tale e conception, two who could have lived this challenge with the colors reversed. For one, the Portuguese, the blue train has now passed almost four years ago, while for the other the red and black shades could come back into fashion next summer. From Castel Volturno They reject any insinuation in this regard, optimistic about the possibility that the marriage Count-Naples continue until the end of the contract, perhaps in step with the growth hoped for and desired by many parties and which could receive an important incentive from the team's results. A championship, just to stay in the current situation, could act as a propellant for the bond unlike what happened with Spalletti, the one who 'replaced' on the virtual blue bench precisely conception after that hit and run of just over twenty-four hours. The same conception who, despite a year that was to say the least troubled and full of ups and downs, on Sunday evening will try to write a small but great page of history for his team Milan, never undefeated at Fuorigrotta for 7 times in a row.

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