New Headline: "Napoli's Victory: Conte Strengthens Core, Bandiera Leads the Charge!
Conte: ‘Napoli common good is what matters, Banda frightened me’ Antonio Conte warns Napoli that he will be ruthless for the ‘common good, which is Champions League qualification,’ and reveals what he saw with Lameck Banda’s collapse. It was the worst possible start to the game at the Stadio Maradona when Lecce took the lead in the third minute , as Jamil Siebert was allowed a free header on a corner. NAPLES, ITALY – MARCH 14: Matteo Politano of SSC Napoli celebrates after scoring his side second goal during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and US Lecce at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on March 14, 2026 in Naples, Italy.
(Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images) The Partenopei struggled to get back into it, but were transformed at half-time when introducing Kevin De Bruyne and Scott McTominay off the bench. They equalised within 60 seconds thanks to Rasmus Hojlund meeting a Matteo Politano pull-back, then Politano ended his 43-match drought to turn it around completely for a third consecutive victory. Conte keeps eye on big picture for Napoli NAPLES, ITALY – MARCH 14: Antonio Conte SSC Napoli head coach during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and US Lecce at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on March 14, 2026 in Naples, Italy.
(Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images) “I am not someone who tends to pay attention to statistics, but I can only be satisfied when hearing I have such a good record,” Conte told DAZN Italia when informed he has an average of 2. 21 points per game in Serie A. Although De Bruyne had made his comeback last week against Torino, this was his first appearance at the Stadio Maradona since he suffered that serious thigh tear on October 25, converting a penalty against Inter.
With everyone available again, how could this change the Napoli line-up? “These are all hypotheticals, because we are talking about players who have been out for four or five months, so we cannot expect them to immediately be in good shape,” replied Conte. “We started out using Elmas against Torino with Gilmour, then in the second half I brought on Anguissa and pushed Elmas further forward.
Today we started with Anguissa and Gilmour, then Elmas as a Number 10. “As we were losing the match, I changed again. These are great players, but we must give them time to regain the match tempo.