Massimiliano Allegri, Napoli's coach, expressed his regret for his team's loss at home to Como, 1-2, on Sunday evening, in the second round of the Italian Football League.
Allegri said in statements to the DAZN platform after the end of the match: “Sometimes we are very lax when it comes to defence, and we had many chances.”
He added: “We need to understand when we can build attacks and when we cannot. We made many mistakes during the match, but the most important thing is that we were very lenient in conceding goals, especially the second goal. You cannot waste two chances in just twenty seconds.”
Veteran Belgian star Kevin De Bruyne came on as a substitute in the second half, while Scottish player Scott McTominay was replaced an hour before the match, something that rarely happened with former coach Antonio Conte.
Allegri said: “De Bruyne feels better. What we need to do is improve our performance. We must be more attentive in defense.”
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho praised his English player Jude Bellingham, who contributed to his team's victory over Malaga in the third round of the Spanish League.
Bellingham scored one goal and contributed to another during the 4-0 win on Sunday evening in the third round of the Spanish League.
Mourinho said in a press conference transmitted by the club’s official website: “Bellingham is a player who is strict with himself and with his teammates, and this is what I like about him. I agreed with him that I did not want to see Jude defending as if he were a second left defender, which is what I saw him do many times.”
He added: “I am very happy with everyone’s performance because everyone contributes. But it is true that we lost some of our enthusiasm in the last 20 minutes, not enthusiasm, but when you are ahead 3-0, the team may tend to lose some organization and relax a little. We lost a bit of that organization that allows us to press, attack and recover high balls without falling backwards. This is gradually becoming a characteristic of this team, but it is also normal that we do not have the energy or mentality to do it for 90 minutes. “It is something that needs to be developed over time.”
Regarding whether Bellingham is a candidate for the Ballon d’Or, in his opinion, Mourinho said: “I previously said that there is more than one candidate at Real Madrid. There is clearly one player who made history forever, in my opinion. I don't see anyone now, or at the next World Cup, or even in eight years, being able to break a record like that. “I think he will continue to be the one who increases his number of goals, which seems almost impossible.”
He continued: “Jude, as a midfielder, is a great player. You're going one way, I have to go another. This other direction is my team, my players. Today, Camavinga, a very unpopular player, had a great game. I'm very happy with his reaction. Fedi is Federico Valverde, and Bernardo is Bernardo. Lots of committed players. And now we have a very difficult match in Seville against Real Betis. We have to do our best.”
Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk began her new attempt to win her first Grand Slam title with an easy 6-4, 6-1 victory over Australian qualifier Storm Hunter in the first round of the US Open Tennis Championship “Flushing Meadows” on Sunday.
After her stumble in the Australian Open this year, Kostyuk performed wonderfully in major tournaments, reaching the semi-finals in both the French Open and Wimbledon, arriving at Flushing Meadows as one of the serious candidates to compete for the title.
The world number 11 entered the match quickly, and rushed to a 4-1 lead before overcoming a short period of decline and deciding the first set after Hunter committed a double fault on serve on set point.
Kostyuk took control of the match in the second set, as she broke her opponent's serve early and did not leave her any chance to return, ending the match in her favor within 67 minutes.
“I am very happy to return to this wonderful place,” Kostyuk said on the field after the match. It's not easy to face a player coming from the qualifiers, who has already played a whole tournament. I am very satisfied with my performance today. "I'm trying to stay focused and balanced. There's still a long way to go, and I'm enjoying my tennis."
In the next round, the 24-year-old will face American Sloane Stephens, champion of the 2017 edition, or Danish Clara Tawson.
On the other hand, the 27th seeded Czech Barbora Krejcikova bowed out of the competition early, as the player, winner of two major tournament titles, became the first seeded player to bow out of the tournament, after she saved six match points before surrendering to Uzbek Kamila Rakhimova with a score of 7-6 and 6-2 on the side courts.
Rakhimova, who has never advanced past the third round in major tournaments, will play the winner of Monday's match between Japan's Aoi Ito and Spain's Oksana Selkhmeteva.
