Antonio Conte believes Napoli will come out of their Champions League defeat to Manchester City stronger, as they return to Serie A action against Pisa on Monday.
Napoli have made a perfect start to the 2025-26 league season, winning all three of their Serie A matches so far, while only conceding one goal in the process.
Though they have slipped out of the top spot after Juventus’ draw on Saturday, the Partenopei are looking to return to the summit by bouncing back from their midweek disappointment.
Napoli made a losing start to their Champions League campaign thanks to a 2-0 defeat to City, with Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s first-half red card playing its part.
However, Conte was determined to take the positives from that result and believes it will help them build their resilience.
“I think we can come out of the game stronger,” he said. “I think in the first 20 minutes, you saw our plan.
“The impression I had was that when we had the ball, we could hurt Man City.
“I have to take the positives out of it. I take the positives out of those 70 minutes, during which we played 10 against 11 against a top team.
“We know we had a great sense of self-sacrifice, a great deal of determination, a great desire. We didn’t want to give up, we didn’t want to say defeat is inevitable.”
They next face a Pisa side who have only accumulated one point in Serie A this season, and have only scored once, which came via an own goal.
Pisa have never won in 14 previous top-flight matches against the reigning champions (D4 L10).
Napoli are once again in the fight for the trophy, though Scott McTominay, a key figure in their Scudetto triumph last season, says it is too early to be thinking about the Serie A title battle.
“[Conte’s] an incredible coach, he helps us always give our best. Our strength is our spirit and courage,” McTominay told RAI.
“It’s too early to say who’s the strongest; thinking about the future can make you lose focus.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Napoli – Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne has played the most throughballs in Serie A this season (seven), at least three more than any other player (Youssouf Fofana – four).
The Belgian, who had to be subbed off early against Man City as Conte shuffled his pack after going down to 10 men, scored a penalty against Fiorentina last weekend, his first spot-kick goal in one of the big five European leagues since December 2020 (vs Fulham in the Premier League).
He is now looking to score in consecutive league appearances for the first time since October 2022 (against Brighton and Leicester City).
Pisa – M’Bala Nzola
M’Bala Nzola’s last Serie A goal came against Napoli, in a 2-2 home game for Fiorentina on 17 May 2024.
That match was also the Angolan striker’s last start in the Italian top-flight (he has made three league appearances as a substitute so far for Pisa, managing just one shot during that run).
MATCH PREDICTION: NAPOLI WIN
Napoli and Pisa have faced each other 14 times in Serie A, with six wins for the former and three for the Tuscans (D5).
In particular, Napoli are unbeaten in their last six matches against Pisa, winning four of those matches (D2).
Napoli are unbeaten in six of their seven home games against Pisa in Serie A (W4 D2), winning the most recent, though that was back in September 1990 (2-1). They have not beaten them in consecutive home league matches since 1969 and 1983.
The Partenopei are a force at home regardless, having won six of their last seven games at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Serie A (D1), conceding only four goals in the process.
In fact, Napoli are currently enjoying the longest unbeaten streak in Europe’s top five leagues: 15 consecutive games, including 10 wins and five draws. They are looking to win five consecutive Serie A matches under Conte for the third time.
In the event of a defeat, Pisa would find themselves with no more than one point after the first four games played in a Serie A season for the third time in their last four participations in the top division, after 1987-88 (0) and 1988-89 (one).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Napoli – 71.8%
Draw – 16.8%
Pisa – 11.4%