Gennaro Gattuso tells Lorenzo Insigne not to think Napoli lost the Supercoppa because of the penalty miss. ‘Juventus had more chances in the Coppa Italia Final.’

It was a heart-breaking evening at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia, as Lorenzo Insigne had the opportunity to equalise after Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal, but the captain fired a penalty wide of the target.

Gennaro Gattuso tells Lorenzo Insigne not to think Napoli lost the Supercoppa because of the penalty miss. ‘Juventus had more chances in the Coppa Italia Final.’

It was a heart-breaking evening at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia, as Lorenzo Insigne had the opportunity to equalise after Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal, but the captain fired a penalty wide of the target.

Wojciech Szczesny also made sensational saves, including one in stoppages, allowing Alvaro Morata to go on the counter for 2-0 with the last kick of the game.

“I have to thank my players, as they did what we needed to. They were a little timid, especially in the first half, but reacted to the goal,” Gattuso told RAI Sport.

“These things can happen, I congratulate them on their efforts. We could’ve done something more perhaps, but we know these situations are difficult.”

Insigne was in floods of tears after missing the spot-kick that would’ve been his 100th Napoli goal.

“In such an important game, you can have a little bad luck and that includes a missed penalty, but the save on Lozano at the 94th minute was incredible.

“We win and lose with everyone in the team, Lorenzo mustn’t think we lost because of him, as that’s just not true.

“These two teams respected each other, it was a chess match of tactics, neither side had many scoring opportunities. It wasn’t perfect from either of us. They tried to use the pace of their strikers, but we blocked off the spaces most of the time.”

Napoli had drawn 0-0 with Juventus in the Coppa Italia Final back in June, winning on penalties.

“It was very similar to the Coppa Italia Final. In fact, I think we were under more pressure seven months ago than tonight, as I don’t remember Juve chances other than their goals.

“We know they have a large squad to choose from and in a Final, it can happen that some players feel the tension more than others.

“I must also say, the pitch was in a terrible state and it wasn’t easy to play passing football on there. It’s not an excuse, we both suffered from the conditions.”

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