Napoli in seventh football heaven: The “Scudetto” is perfect

Now it's mathematically fixed, now the big party can start: After more than three decades, Napoli are champions of Serie A again.

04 May 2023

From: dpa/det

The final whistle from referee Rosario Abisso was almost impossible to hear in Udine. When the referee blew his whistle three times on Thursday evening, sealing Napoli's 1-1 draw against Udinese and making the Southern Italians' championship title a mathematical certainty, all the dams burst. Spectators rushed onto the field, players became the center of cheering crowds, tears flowed freely. Naples, this football-crazy city, will win a Serie A championship title for the first time since 1990!

Thanks to the 1-1 draw against Udinese, Luciano Spalletti's team is 16 points ahead of Lazio with five games to go and can therefore no longer be caught. Serie A top scorer Victor Osimhen scored the goal for a draw and thus the first championship since the Diego Armando Maradona era more than three decades ago in the 52nd minute after the guests had fallen behind early on.

Victor Osimhen scored to make it 1-1 and became a champion hero. © ANSA / ETTORE GRIFFONI

While the “masked man” and his teammates celebrated with the fans who had traveled with him in Udine, the mega party that had been awaited for weeks began in Napoli. In the stadium named after Maradona, around 60.000 fans watched the game on eight large screens, and countless screens were also set up in the city.

Now the big party is starting

Countless supporters gathered in the large squares during the day and prepared themselves for the triumph with battle songs and Bengal fires. Even before the final whistle in Udine, fireworks rockets were shot into the sky in Naples.

The pitch in Udine became a sea of fans. © ANSA / GABRIELE MENIS

For security reasons, several streets in the already chaotic city at the foot of Mount Vesuvius were closed to traffic, and a large police presence was supposed to ensure a peaceful night of partying. Actually, the party should have taken place last Sunday - but because Napoli surprisingly only played 1-1 at home against Salernitana, the celebration had to be postponed for four days. Hardly anyone in Italy had any doubts about Naples' third title after 1987 and 1990 for weeks.

A more than worthy master

The southern Italians earned their triumph with fantastic and largely confident performances this season, an exciting offensive around Osimhen and dribbling artist Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and the carefree attitude of an outsider without any big stars. After a few narrowly missed successes in previous years, Spalletti managed this time to ensure that his team did not collapse over the course of the season. In the Champions League, the SSC was only eliminated in the quarter-finals against AC Milan.

Serie A, Thursday games

Udinese – Napoli 1-1
1:0 Lovric (13th), 1:1 Osimhen (52nd)

Empoli – Bologna 3-1
1:0 own goal Lucumi (1st), 2:0 Akpa Akpro (45th+1), 3:0 Cambiaghi (68th), 3:1 penalty Orsolini (88th)

Table

	SP	G	U	V	TV	P
1. Naples	33	25	5	3	69:23	80
2. Lazio	33	19	7	7	52:24	64
3. Juventus	33	19	6	8	50:28	63
4. Inter	33	19	3	11	60:35	60
5.Milan	33	16	10	7	53:39	58
6. Atalanta	33	17	7	9	56:39	58
7. Roma	33	17	7	9	45:31	58
8. Fiorentina	33	12	10	11	45:39	46
9. Torino	33	12	9	12	35:38	45
10.Bologna	33	12	9	12	42:43	45
11.Monza	33	12	9	12	41:44	45
12.Udinese	33	10	13	10	43:41	43
13. Sassuolo	33	12	7	14	40:49	43
14. Empoli	33	8	11	14	29:43	35
15. Salernitana	33	7	14	12	41:54	35
16. Lecce	33	7	10	16	28:40	31
17. Specia	33	5	12	16	28:54	27
18. Hellas Verona	33	6	9	18	27:51	27
19. Cremonese	33	3	12	18	29:59	21
20. Sampdoria	33	3	8	22	20:59	17