Soccer Football - Serie A - AC Milan v Napoli - San Siro, Milan, Italy - October 29, 2024 AC Milan coach Paulo Fonseca reacts REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo
MILAN, Italy (Reuters) - AC Milan slipped further away from the top of Serie A after a 2-0 loss at home to leaders Napoli on Tuesday but manager Paulo Fonseca believes winning the title is still a possibility.
Milan are already 11 points behind Napoli and, while they have a game in hand, their third league defeat of the season leaves them playing catch-up not only to the pacesetters but also their other main title rivals, Inter Milan and Juventus.
Fonseca was asked if the Scudetto remained the objective and the Portuguese was clearly not giving up at this stage of the season, with Milan hampered by the absence of several players including the suspended Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders.
"I can't say the opposite. Especially seeing how we played, how the team responded to a difficult moment and how it showed unity even without important players," Fonseca told DAZN.
"No team has won the league after nine games and none has lost it after nine games, for this reason we must continue on the path of growth. Clearly we will need results to enter this fight."
The coach shouldered the blame for the latest loss but was happy with how his side responded after going a goal down early on when Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring.
"I'm always responsible for what happens on the pitch and once again I take this responsibility," Fonseca said.
"It's not easy to start the game with a Napoli goal after five minutes, but if we look at the result, they scored two goals and we created the chances.
"The team had a good reaction at the beginning of the game, we played positive football with quality. It's not easy against a Napoli team that ... defends in front of its penalty area."
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)
