Diego Maradona’s heirs are Italian football champions again after 33 years: SSC Napoli won the long-awaited Scudetto on Thursday evening with a hard-fought 1-1 (0-1) win at Udinese Calcio. Napoli, unable to be ousted from first place in Serie A with five games to go, celebrated their third title after the two championships of the Maradona era (1987 and 1990).
With his 22nd goal of the season, striker Victor Osimhen (52nd) redeemed the Neapolitans, who are now unassailable with a 16-point lead over Lazio Rome (64). Sandi Lovric (13th) put Udine in the lead – and made Napoli and many of the fans who traveled with them tremble again for the big party.
Can this be true? Supporters in Naples celebrate the Scudetto.
(Photo: Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)
The SSC have been dominating the league for weeks, while fans dressed the city in the club’s blue and white colors in anticipation. On Thursday, 13,000 fans who traveled with them celebrated the great triumph in Udine, in the sold-out Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples almost 60,000 people cheered on the public viewing on eight large screens, and countless screens were also set up in the city. Even before the final whistle in Udine, fireworks rockets were shot into the sky in Naples.
After the final whistle, hundreds of supporters stormed the pitch and almost overwhelmed the pros with their joy – in the truest sense of the word. Some patted the bald head of successful coach Luciano Spalletti, others tore the clothes off their heroes. “When you see the Neapolitans happy, you get a sense of the joy they feel,” said a visibly touched Spalletti on broadcaster Dazn: “These people will look to this moment when life gets difficult, they have every right celebrating like that. It makes you feel a little bit more relaxed knowing you gave them that moment of happiness.”
Coach Spalletti’s team needed just one point to win the title in Udine after the only remaining pursuer Lazio saved their theoretical chance the day before with a 2-0 (1-0) win over Sassuolo Calcio. Last weekend, Napoli failed to use the assist of the Romans, who lost 3-1 at Inter Milan: The 1-1 draw against US Salernitana was not enough, the celebrations had to be postponed – until Thursday.
