Friendly: Napoli beat Olympiacos 2-1 with Lukaku injury, new De Bruyne role and Conte rage

CASTEL DI SANGRO, ITALY – AUGUST 14: Romelu Lukaku of Napoli leaves the pitch after suffering an injury during the pre-season friendly match between Napoli and Olympiacos at Stadio Teofilo Patini on August 14, 2025 in Castel di Sangro, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images)

Matteo Politano and Lorenzo Lucca scored as Napoli beat Olympiacos 2-1 with a new Kevin De Bruyne role, but Romelu Lukaku’s injury and Antonio Conte’s rage made it a less than enjoyable friendly.

The final test of the summer for the reigning Champions of Italy took place in their training camp in Castel di Sangro.

The coach tested out a different tactical set-up with the 4-4-1-1 formation, using De Bruyne as a trequartista in support of Lukaku, moving Scott McTominay to a wide left role.

Politano first curled just wide, then got his aim right soon after with a swerving finish from the edge of the area, assisted by Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa.

However, the mood soured significantly just before half-time, as Lukaku pulled up clutching the back of his left thigh and hobbled off the field.

There are suspicions this could keep the striker out of the opening game of the Serie A season against Sassuolo on August 23.

Moments later, Conte flew into a rage when Ayoub El Kaabi clattered into the back of Amir Rrahmani, the coach rushing onto the field to confront the opposition player and referee.

Vanja Milinkovic-Savic denied El Kaabi, but Napoli doubled their lead with substitute Lucca, finishing a counter-attack sparked by De Bruyne and rolled across by McTominay.

De Bruyne also fired over and made the most of the tactical freedom granted to him by Conte to roam around the pitch.

Napoli moved to a 4-3-3 formation for the closing stages, and Milinkovic-Savic made a save on Santiago Hezze, but then got it all wrong when colliding with Alessandro Buongiorno, allowing Chiquinho to deposit into the empty net.

Napoli 2-1 Olympiacos

Politano 17 (N), Lucca 53 (N), Chiquinho 91 (O)

Napoli: Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus (Buongiorno 85), Olivera; Politano (Spinazzola 80), Anguissa, Lobotka (Gilmour 76), McTominay; De Bruyne; Lukaku (Lucca 32) (Neres 76)

Olympiacos: Botis (Paschalakis 46); Ortega, Pirola, Retsos, Costinha (Strefezza 46); Scipioni (Liatsikouras 65), Hezze; Ciquinho, Pnevmonidis, Rodinei; El Kaabi