Napoli manager Antonio Conte has said his team “melted like snow” in a loss to Verona in their opening match of the new Serie A season.

The Italian was taking charge of his first competitive match for Napoli, who he joined as manager in June, but the 2023 Scudetto champions fell to a 3-0 loss despite going in level at half-time.

Conte was quick to take the blame for the loss, saying that “I am the coach and it is right that I take full responsibility”, but he added that he felt that his team “melted like snow in the sun”.

“In the first half, there was only one team in it. I don’t think Verona had a shot. Having said that, we immediately let Verona have a shot at the start of the second half, and in the second instance we went behind,” Conte told Sky Sport Italia.

“Then we melted like snow in the sun. What I feel like saying is that we should apologise to the Neapolitan supporters, who follow us with such passion.

“I humbly apologise because the second half was unacceptable. A performance that shows we need to work hard in every aspect. I came to Napoli with lots of enthusiasm, with great desire. If I can help Napoli, I will,” he added.

Napoli won Serie A as recently as the 2022/23 season, and were in the Champions League quarter-finals in the same year, but have since sacked three managers after Scudetto-winning coach Luciano Spalletti left to take charge of the Italian national team.

And before the match, Conte had told the media that he “expected a difficult situation but not like this. I expected positive surprises but it’s been hard to find any. I expected better”.

“I don’t know when Napoli will become competitive. It could be 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years. I don’t know,” he added.