Napoli coach Antonio Conte seemingly replied to Juventus‘ Thiago Motta and Cristiano Giuntoli, who had said that the Partenopei were among the favourites to win the title: ‘Did you want a bike? Now start riding!’
The Serie A title race has heated up and will resume on Friday when Napoli host Cesc Fabregas’ Como at the Stadio Maradona.
The Partenopei are the Serie A leaders, and during a pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Conte was asked whether his players would feel pressure for being the first team to play at the weekend.
However, the reply was unrelated to the question and sounded like a message to his opponents.
“Somebody wants to pressure us, perhaps, to cover their team,” said the Italian tactician.
Conte already sent hidden Scudetto message to Thiago Motta and Juventus
“But this is part of the game. History says three things win titles: history, the team’s value, and the wage bill. This is what history says, save for very few exceptions.
“When I hear somebody pressure us, I think: ‘Did you want a bike? Now start riding!’ So, if somebody wants to put pressure on us, he’d better think about the pressure on him.”
So, who was Conte referring to? The answer seems pretty easy, as both Juventus coach Motta and director Giuntoli recently claimed that Napoli were among the favourites for the title.
Motta said it at least twice since the start of the season, the last time before a Serie A meeting with Napoli in September when he claimed that Conte’s team were “built” for the Scudetto.
Conte didn’t hit back that time, showing the utmost respect for Motta, one of his former Italy players. Juventus currently sit second in the Serie A table, one point below the Partenopei.
The Old Lady’s director Giuntoli also said that Napoli (and Inter) were favourites to win the Scudetto last week.
“It’s still early, but Inter and Napoli are favourites. History says so,” said Giuntoli.
“The most experienced team always wins. Inter are as such, and Napoli became so following their change of strategy.”
On the other hand, Juventus “have changed a lot, and it’s always a risk,” continued Giuntoli.
We have entirely changed the way we think about football. We started from scratch. We are discovering ourselves, and we are curious to see what we can achieve.”