The Azzurri draw in Denmark
Napoli were held to a draw in Copenhagen on the penultimate matchday of the 2025/26 Champions League season group stage. The Azzurri took the lead at the end of the first half with a header from Scot McTominay but in the second half the Danes equalised from the spot. The match ended 1-1.
Antonio Conte had this to say about the match:
"There's a feeling of disappointment because we were in the best possible position in the game to take a decisive step forward. Today there are no real mitigating factors - these are games we need to win because we were completely in control.
"Today we all have to say sorry, and there's little to talk about. We're angry with ourselves because we wasted a huge opportunity to qualify for the play-offs.
"Now we need to work hard and get back on track to put this disappointment to bed, and not ruin our Champions League campaign."
Scott McTominay, who scored the opening goal, gave his thoughts:
"We were always in control, but unfortunately we weren't able to get the three points. Our performance in the first half was good, though.
"We need to understand what mistakes we made because it was a game we had in our grasp. It makes no sense that that we weren't able to score again. Now we have to give our all on the final matchday against Chelsea, and even though we have several injuries, we can make it through."
Giovanni Di Lorenzo expressed his disappointment:
"It's a shame because we’d taken the lead. We’d achieved the most difficult thing, which was to score first. However, then we got our approach wrong in the second half."
"Winning this match was crucial, and we regret a lot that it slipped out of our control. Now we need to carefully analyse what went wrong and give it all we have in the final matchday."
Copenhagen 1-1 Napoli (HT 0-1)
Scorers: McTominay 39, Larsson 72
COPENHAGEN : Kotarski; Suzuki, Gabriel Pereira, Lopez, Meling (Garananga 81) Achouri (Larsson 63), Delaney, Madsen (Claesson 81), Elyounoussi; Dadason (Hatzidiakos 37), Cornelius (Clen 63). Coach. Jacob Neestrup.
NAPOLI: Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Buongiorno, Juan Jesus; Gutierrez (Ambrosino 75), Lobotka, McTominay, Spinazzola (Olivera 63) Vergara (Noa Lang 63), Elmas (Lucca 80) Hojlund. Coach: Antonio Conte.
Referee: Peljto (Bosnia)
Sent off: Delaney
Booked: Di Lorenzo, Hojlund, Eyounoussi
