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• Conte: Napoli need to focus on improvement, not Serie A lead

  Napoli should pay little attention to their place at the top of Serie A, so says Antonio Conte, who has demanded improvement from his team.

  Romelu Lukaku's second-half goal handed Napoli a 1-0 win over Roma on Sunday.

  That victory sent Napoli back to the summit of Serie A, with Conte's side one point ahead of Atalanta, Inter, Fiorentina and Lazio, while Juventus are only four points back in a six-team title race.

  Napoli needed to get back to winning ways after a draw against Inter and a 3-0 loss to Atalanta before the international break, and Conte insists his team must sharpen up.

  "Before the match, I told the lads not to look at the table, but to focus on ourselves and improving what we are working on," Conte told Sky Sport Italia.

  "I maintain that now too because we need to take a series of steps to raise the level.

  "I was satisfied with the performance for a good 65 minutes today, we could’ve taken more of our chances and were up against a strong Roma who have great players.

  "Roma were also making their debut under a new coach and therefore were very eager to prove themselves, but we still should've dealt with the final 15-20 minutes better, as we sat too deep and made it complicated for ourselves."

  Roma, playing under new boss Claudio Ranieri, came close to equalising when Artem Dovbyk hit the woodwork with a header. 

  Ranieri came out of retirement to take charge of Roma following Ivan Juric's dismissal earlier in November, though the visitors had just six shots and accumulated only 0.6 expected goals (xG) at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

  "If we look back, we have some problems and that is why I was called. We were up against a team that is fighting to win the Scudetto," Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia.

  "Having said all of that, I am happy with the performance from my players. We made some mistakes that we will talk about during the week, but the hunger, the determination to get back on track was there.

  "We have a lot of work to do, but I feel positive.

  "We know there is work to be done, we have to focus on reacting rather than sitting there feeling sorry for ourselves.

  "The [players] need the right character to help themselves and then others. Naturally, when I arrived, the team was a little closed up, but I think we started to open up a bit by the second half."

• Furious Flick says Barcelona were fortunate to draw at Celta

  Barcelona boss Hansi Flick said his errant players only had themselves to blame for their 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo in LaLiga, adding they were fortunate to even escape with a point.

  Barca opened a two-goal lead thanks to efforts from captain Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, but after Marc Casado was sent off in the 82nd minute, the hosts fought back with two late strikes.

  Alfon Gonzalez and Hugo Alvarez were on target as Celta denied Barca the chance to move eight points clear at the summit, and Flick said his side could have few complaints.

  "It wasn't only the last few minutes, we played a really bad game tonight," Flick told DAZN.

  "If you don't play at 100% you can't win. That's just the way it was the whole game. We have to be honest.

  "These things happen. It was a bad game. The players are not happy. Everyone can play better than what we did today. You have to stay focused. Sometimes it may seem that what we do is easy, but it is not."

   

  Flick would not point fingers at Casado for the red card or defender Jules Kounde for a bad mistake that led to Celta's first goal. Instead, he criticised his side's collective effort and performance levels.

  "The red card and Kounde's mistake are just a consequence of the bad game from the team. We made a lot of mistakes and lacked confidence on the ball throughout the match," Flick said.

  "We didn't play the football we are used to but we were lucky with some situations and in the end got a point but we have to react because it cannot be repeated.

  "I hope what we saw today doesn't have a negative impact in our Champions League game against Brest on Tuesday. We have to learn with the mistakes we move on."

  Barca top LaLiga with 34 points, five ahead of Atletico Madrid in second and seven ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, who have two games in hand. 

• Celta Vigo 2-2 Barcelona: Stunning late show denies 10-man Blaugrana

  Celta Vigo scored two goals in two minutes late on to earn an entertaining 2-2 draw with Barcelona in LaLiga at the Estadio Abanca-Balaidos.

  League leaders Barca appeared to be cruising towards victory when they opened up a two-goal lead thanks to captain Raphinha and leading goalscorer Robert Lewandowski.

  Raphinha cut inside before tucking home for the opener 15 minutes in, then Lewandowski got his 15th league goal of the season with a simple finish in the 61st minute.

  However, the script changed when Blaugrana midfielder Marc Casado was sent off after receiving his second yellow card in the 82nd minute.

  With Barca down to 10 men, the home side piled on the pressure and it told in the 84th minute, substitute Alfonso Gonzalez converting following an error from Jules Kounde.

  The comeback was complete two minutes later, with Hugo Alvarez drilling past Inaki Pena to deny Flick's visitors victory.

  Despite the result, Barca top LaLiga with 34 points, five ahead of Atletico Madrid in second and seven ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, who have two games in hand.

  Data Debrief: Blaugrana finally held

  Going into Saturday's game, Barcelona had gone 24 matches without a draw in LaLiga, winning 20 and losing four. 

  When they entered the final six minutes with a two-goal advantage, it appeared certain they would match their longest streak without a draw in the competition's history, recorded between February and October 2017 (25 games, 23 wins and two draws).

  However, Hansi Flick's side were stunned at the death as they dropped points for a second game in succession following a 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad prior to the international break.