Napoli wins Italian League title since Maradona

Football supporters from Napoli celebrated their team’s victory in the Italian League by leaping, singing and setting off flares beneath a massive Diego Maradona mural. At the Maradona-named stadium on the opposite side of Naples, tributes to the team’s most illustrious player could be seen all over the place. His likeness could be seen on banners, flags, and scarves, and his No. 10 could be seen on the backs of jerseys.
After the Partenopei won their first league title since Maradona guided the team to the 1987 and 1990 titles, Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti stated that the late Argentina star’s legacy made a difference. These supporters have saw famous coaches come and go. Diego Armando Maradona may have had an influence on this achievement since they watched him play, according to Spalletti.
Unlike the Maradona years, however, this Napoli title wasn’t about a single player but rather a well-run unit that often overwhelmed opponents with standouts in every department: league scoring leader Victor Osimhen at centre forward, league assist leader Khvicha Kvaratskhelia at left wing, passing expert Stanislav Lobotka in central midfield, and physical presence Kim Min-jae at centre back — not to mention their veteran coach.
Napoli clinched the trophy with a 1-1 draw at Udinese on Thursday. Osimhen equalised for Napoli early in the second half by redirecting in a rebound after Sandi Lovric had put Udinese ahead early on. Napoli moved an insurmountable 16 points ahead of second-place Lazio with five rounds still to play.
Besides the 11,000 Napoli fans inside and 5,000 more outside the stadium in Udine, northern Italy, a capacity crowd of more than 50,000 watched the match on jumbo screens at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples. “Napoli, this is for you,” Spalletti said. “There are people here who will be able to get through difficult moments in their lives because they remember this moment. These people deserve all the joy.”
De Laurentiis took over the club in 2004 when Napoli was declared bankrupt, restarting in the third division. “This is the coronation of a dream that’s been going on for 33 years,” De Laurentiis added. “It’s been a long process.” It’s the first time a club south of Italy’s traditional soccer capitals of Milan and Turin has won the league since Roma claimed the title in 2001.
Napoli matched the record of clinching with five rounds to spare, shared with Torino (in 1947–48), Fiorentina (1955–56), Inter Milan (2006–07), and Juventus (2018–19).