Dhe SSC Napoli messed up winning the Italian soccer championship early and the planned title party in the city. Coach Luciano Spalletti’s team couldn’t get past a 1-1 (0-0) draw against US Salernitana on Sunday. If Napoli had been victorious over the outsider, it would not have been possible to put them in first place – despite the small setback, nobody has any doubts about winning the title this season.
When Mathias Oliveira scored the deserved 1-0 in the 62nd minute, the celebration seemed to be taking its course. In the 84th minute, however, visiting striker Boulaye Dia shocked the home side with an equalizer. Everything was prepared for a unique football party at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. Chaser Lazio Rom lost 3-1 at Inter Milan early Sunday afternoon.
Will Naples be champions in front of the TV?
Thousands of fans have already gathered in the city in various places, with blue-white smoke from Bengal fires rising everywhere. Practically all the houses of this chaotic and crazy city were decorated with flags and banners. Up to a million fans including tourists were expected in the city, for safety reasons large parts of the center were closed to traffic. Around 2,500 police and law enforcement officers were on duty to prevent riots and incidents.
Since the era of Diego Maradona and the two championship titles in 1987 and 1990, Napoli have been waiting for their third Serie A win – now the club and the Tifosi have to wait a few more days. With six games to go, Napoli are 18 points clear of Lazio and 20 over Juventus, who travel to Bologna on Sunday night. In the away game at Udinese Calcio next Thursday, Napoli can make amends for the little blunder – if the pursuers don’t make a mistake beforehand and make the SSC champions in front of the TV set.
Even a curious goal by France’s top scorer Kylian Mbappé did not save leaders Paris Saint-Germain from an unexpected home defeat in the French soccer league. The leaders lost 3-1 (2-1) against FC Lorient on Sunday, who are now tenth in the table. For PSG, it was a setback on the way to the next championship title in what has been a disappointing season so far, despite still being clearly at the top of the table.
After being left behind by Enzo Le Fée (15th), Mbappé fell in the 29th minute in the guests’ penalty area. There was no penalty, although Lorient goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo appeared to assume the game had been stopped. The former RB Leipzig goalkeeper wanted to put the ball on the pitch, but Mbappé grabbed the ball in a hurry and slid it into the empty goal to equalize.
Kylian Mbappé’s goal didn’t prevent Paris’ defeat either.
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Image: AFP
However, Darlin Yongwa (39th) gave Lorient the lead again. The outsider had a field player more after the 20th minute after PSG defender Achraf Hakimi received a yellow card. The Paris star ensemble with world champion Lionel Messi and Mbappé then conceded the third goal by Bamba Dieng (89th) in a counterattack. The pressure on PSG coach Christophe Galtier should now continue to increase. In the Champions League, his team failed in the round of 16 at Bayern Munich.
