Article by Sebastian Vasile – Published Monday, February 23, 2026, 12:13 / Updated Monday, February 23, 2026 12:13
Napoli lost in the 26th round of Serie A at Atalanta with a score of 1-2 and dropped to fourth place in the standings. Antonio Conte's men are now 14 points clear of leaders Inter.
After the match, the Neapolitans made a huge scandal about the referees and the VAR system, their decisions being categorized as scandalous.
Napoli caught fire after the failure with Atalanta! Antonio Conte refused to attend the conference
Conte refused to attend the press conference, his place being taken by the club's sporting director, Giovanni Manna.
Napoli took the lead after Sam Beukema's header (min. 18), but Atalanta managed to reverse the result in the last half hour with goals scored by Mario Pašalic (min. 61) and Lazar Samardzic (min. 81).
The Azzurri could not accept that, at 1-0, head referee Daniele Chiffi disallowed a penalty awarded for Isak Hien's tackle on Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund. Another controversial situation arose after a disallowed goal to Miguel Guttierez for an alleged earlier foul by Hojlund on Hien.
Photo: X.com/
“It is impossible to comment on what happened on the field. We should have received a penalty, but the referee suddenly canceled it. Then he canceled a goal for us without using the VAR system and reviewing the whole situation on the monitor. I wonder, where was the foul? It was embarrassing!”, Manna was indignant in an interview for DAZN.
Napoli's sporting director: “The decisions in the match against Atalanta were scandalous”
The team from the foot of Vesuvius has felt disadvantaged this season and in the matches against Hellas Verona and Juventus.
“At that time we had a dissatisfaction with the referees, but we did not dissect the situation. The decisions in the match with Atalanta were scandalous. We want to ensure our participation in the new edition of the Champions League, but it's sad that we also have to fight against the referees, not just the opponents on the fieldManna added.
Giovanni Manna, Napoli's sporting director. Photo: DAZN
Napoli thus remained at 50 points, 14 below the leader Inter, 4 below Milan, who will receive the visit of Parma this evening. For Antonio Conte, the new goal seems to be to stay in the TOP 4, because Juventus has only 4 points in the minus, and Como and Atalanta 5 each.
VIDEO. Summary of the match Atalanta – Napoli (2-1)
AC Milan made a laughingstock at home, and Chivu's Inter broke away in Serie A and have one hand on the trophy
AC Milan made another misstep in Serie A and lost at home with Parmascore 1-0, in a match of stage #26 of Serie A. Following the result, Chivu's Inter is officially 10 points at the top of the championship and seems decisively distant to the “Scudetto”!
“We can't be satisfied with the game or the result. But I have to admit that Parma played very well. We created chances, but the ball didn't want to go into the goal,” said second-half Marco Landucci, who led AC Milan from the bench in place of the suspended Massimiliano Allegri.
Serie A standings
