Napoli coach Antonio Conte blamed injuries for his side's exit from the Champions League after Wednesday's 3-2 home defeat to Chelsea ended their hopes of finishing in the top 24 and making the playoffs.
"I don't see our elimination as a disaster, because you have to look at the path we've had," Conte said.
"Tonight we played with 13 players against Chelsea, and still played a European-level match.
"We've had a lot of long-term injuries and absences since the beginning of this season, but still we've made our way".
A Enzo Fernandez penalty gave Chelsea the lead but a remarkable individual goal by Antonio Vergara and a fine finish from Rasmus Hojlund had the Serie A champions on top at the break.
But the London side prevailed thanks to two superb second-half goals by Joao Pedro to grab a place in the top eight a direct slot in the last 16.
Italy's three other representatives in the competition, Inter, Juventus and Atalanta, are all in the playoffs, having finished in the top 24 but failed to make the top eight.
Inter finished 10th after beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 away, Juve drew 0-0 at Monaco and came 13th and Atalanta were 15th after losing 1-0 at Union SG.
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