Napoli assistant head coach Cristian Stellini believes their comfortable win over Fiorentina in Serie A was “important” as they battle a number of injury problems.
Antonio Conte's side strolled to a 3-0 victory thanks to goals from David Neres, Romelu Lukaku and Scott McTominay to open a three-point lead over Atalanta, who have a game in hand due to their involvement in the Supercoppa Italiana.
Napoli have now won four straight away games in Serie A under one coach for the first time since January-April 2023 (a run of eight), while keeping a clean sheet in six of their first ten away games in the competition. a season for the first time since 1988-89.
Stellini, who attended the post-match press conference instead of Conte, explained why the win was crucial as they were without Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Matteo Politano and Alessandro Buongiorno due to injury.
“It's fair to call it very important for several reasons,” he said at a news conference. “The first is that we were on a difficult pitch against a strong team with a very big squad.
“And the second thing is that we had some absentees and wanted to show how important our work is and how much the boys follow us. That's even more important.”
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Those injuries handed Leonardo Spinazzola a rare start this season, a player who was linked with a move away from Napoli in the January transfer window.
“We have a lot of players and without too many matches it is not easy to rotate everyone,” said Stellini.
“It is precisely for this reason that we have to congratulate guys like him, Juan Jesus, Giacomo Raspadori and Rafael Marin. They are working to improve both themselves and the team.”
Conte did not attend the press conference and did not undertake media duties after the match, with Stellini explaining his decision.
“We are very happy with the victory, but this afternoon we suffered a terrible blow,” Stellini told DAZN. “We have lost a person very dear to us, very close to all of Napoli, a child who was sick and to whom we tried to give moments of joy and who in return gave us a lot of strength.
“The manager had no intention of coming to speak about the game. Our thoughts go out to the little fan, his family and to all the children suffering from serious illnesses from which they cannot recover. The message is for them. We say goodbye of little Daniel.”
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