Italiano vero: Conte and De Laurentiis turn former's farewell into public family argument

They could not even keep things calm for one final press conference.

Because that is simply who they are. Two huge personalities, two men who rarely tolerate opinions other than their own - or at least rarely hide it when they disagree. And so, in perfectly fitting fashion, Aurelio De Laurentiis and Antonio Conte turned Napoli's post-match media conference after the clash with Udinese into something that felt less like a formal goodbye and more like a married couple arguing in front of guests.

Conte officially announced his departure from Napoli during the appearance, but not before firing back at several comments from the club president that clearly irritated him.

The spark came when De Laurentiis insisted the Partenopei would have defended the Serie A title if injuries had not destroyed the squad.

"Without the injuries, we would have easily won the Scudetto again," said the Napoli owner.

Conte instantly cut in.

"Absolutely NOT."

"Come on, I'm telling you!" De Laurentiis replied.

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But Conte was not backing down.

"I absolutely disagree with you. Credit has to go to Inter. They are an outstanding team. Last season, they reached the Champions League final, and this year they are even stronger. They deserved to win."

That, naturally, only pushed De Laurentiis into another counterattack.

"Inter are such a great team that they actually did WORSE in Europe than last season…"

Conte immediately responded again.

"Well, they still did better than us. They went further than we did."

"Yes, but that's different," De Laurentiis insisted.

The coach, visibly annoyed by that point, decided to end the discussion himself.

"I don't like getting involved in these things. We must recognise when others deserve to win and show respect. If we want respect, we have to give it. Inter deserved to win the league, injuries or not."

And yet, somehow, that was only the warm-up.

De Laurentiis then revealed that he realised Conte's time in Naples was coming to an end.

"After the defeat to Bologna, Antonio was disappointed. I told him: take a week off, stay home, relax. Then he called me and asked to meet. You know, we are friends, Aurelio... and I understood," the Napoli president explained.

"I was direct with him. If Napoli is too stressful for you, I understand. We are not Bayern Munich, PSG or Real Madrid. We have to stay within our budget. And then…"

Conte later confirmed that the decision to leave had ultimately been his own.

"I felt my journey was coming to an end. The decision was mine," the Italian coach admitted.

"I understood one thing about Napoli: I wasn't able to create unity. And if that doesn't happen, you cannot fight for titles. I heard too much poison around the club. Napoli need certain people to step away. I failed in that area. I raised my hands when I realised I could not change things."

SERIE A - ROUND 38

Friday

Fiorentina - Atalanta 1-1 (1-0)

/Piccoli 39 - Comuzzo 82(og)/

Saturday

Lazio - Pisa 2-1 (2-1)

/Dele-Bashiru 33, Pedro 35 - Moreo 23/

Bologna - Inter 3-3 (2-1)

/Bernardeschi 25, Pobega 42, Zielinski 48(og) - Dimarco 22, Esposito 64, Diouf 85/

Sunday

Parma - Sassuolo 1-0 (0-0)

/Pellegrino 80/

Napoli - Udinese 1-0 (1-0)

/Hojlund 24/

Cremonese - Como 1-4 (0-1)

/Bonazzoli 55 pen - Rodriguez 36, Douvikas 51, Da Cunha 74,81/

Lecce - Genoa 1-0 (1-0)

/Banda 6/

Milan - Cagliari 1-2 (1-1)

/Saelemaekers 2 - Borrelli 20, Rodriguez 57/

Torino - Juventus 2-2 (0-1)

/Casadei 60, Adams 84 - Vlahovic 24,54/

Verona - Roma 0-2 (0-0)

/Malen 56, El Shaarawy 90+3/