Between ecstasy and fan anger: Napoli in conflict

Even the most superstitious fans at the foot of Mount Vesuvius no longer doubt that a splendid SSC Napoli will crown this Serie A season with the title - not even after Sunday's unexpected 0-4 defeat against defending champions AC Milan. The lead over second place and Lazio is 16 points ten games before the end of the season.

At every crossroads in this crazy port city, flags, pennants and other fan items with symbols of the third championship are on offer - it should happen in a few weeks. “And then everyone here goes crazy,” says club president Aurelio De Laurentiis. “But actually everyone has already gone crazy.”

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (in the background as graffiti) and his colleagues immortalize themselves in Naples. © APA/afp / VANO SHLAMOV

In the heart of Naples, the once infamous Spanish Quarter, people have placed man-sized cardboard cutouts on the street. Tifosi can take selfies there with goal scorer Victor Osimhen, his teammates and successful coach Luciano Spalletti. Napoli flags fly overhead between items of laundry hanging from the balconies.

Successor to Maradona & Co. Just a few steps away, at the top of Via Emanuele de Deo, the city's youngest saint is immortalized in a huge mural: Diego Maradona. This gifted and self-destructive world star led Napoli to the championship in 1987 and 1990. In the eternal competition with the rich, hated northern clubs from Milan and Turin, there were moments of happiness that went far beyond football.

Some people today compare the current team with the one from back then. Shooting star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who Napoli found in the Georgian league, is already being called “Kvaradona” by fans. But so far there is only one shrine with a real relic in Naples of Maradona.

Diego Maradona is still omnipresent in Naples. © APA/afp / TIZIANA FABI

In the small bar Nilo, owner Bruno Alcidi has draped a lock of hair in front of a mini altar that he claims he discovered on Maradona's seat on a plane in 1990 and took with him. The bartender smiles as a tour guide photographs two guests in front of the bizarre shrine.

Of course, the man behind the counter is also a Napoli fan; everyone here is rooting for this team. Especially in the city in Campania, people fear “Scaramanzia”, the kind of superstition according to which things don’t happen precisely when they are spoken of. Back in the winter, no one in Naples would have said the word “Scudetto”, i.e. winning the Italian championship.

Despite superstition: the thing is done But then the club moved ahead in the table thanks to fresh offensive football. “And now the Scaramanzia doesn’t get in our way anymore,” says the bartender at Nilo as he makes two espressos, “even though the clubs in the north have all the gods on their side.” He rubs his index finger and thumb together, meaning less the heavenly gods and more the earthly, financial gods.

Goal scorer Victor Osimhen's face mask is already iconic. © APA/afp / TIZIANA FABI

The Milan clubs Inter and AC, which have now been taken over by foreign investors, as well as Juventus, which belongs to the Agnelli family, are hated in Naples. The fact that Juve were deducted 15 points this Serie A season because of financial tricks provided satisfaction. “It's like making love 50 times with the most beautiful woman in the world. Not bad, right?" Club boss Aurelio De Laurentiis on the Napoli season A few steps away from Bar Nilo, in the Monastery of Saint Mary of Jerusalem, Sister Rosa Lupoli has better things to do than be upset or happy about penalties against Juventus. Although she and her fellow sisters live in seclusion and are therefore largely isolated from the outside world, they regularly follow Napoli games, especially on the radio. “It was the hand of God,” Sister Rosa recently told the newspaper “Il Mattino” about the SSC’s soaring. “Of course we had help from above. My boss took care of it.”

The new heroes of the city Many are standing out on the pitch this season: from Osimhen, who once failed in Wolfsburg and is now courted by top clubs, to dribbling artist Kvaratskhelia, defensive discovery Min-Jae Kim and playmaker Stanislav Lobotka. In the Champions League, the supposed no-names have already disenchanted FC Liverpool, Ajax Amsterdam and most recently Eintracht Frankfurt.

Captain Di Lorenzo, goalscorer Osimhen and dribbling artist Kvaratskhelia are playing an overseason. © APA/afp / ALBERTO PIZZOLI

“We have around 50 games a year and are currently experiencing them with absolute intensity,” enthuses club boss De Laurentiis. “It's like making love 50 times with the most beautiful woman in the world. Not bad, right?” And the climax, the master party, is still to come. The president says: “There could be two or three million people celebrating.” A million people live in Naples.

There is also unrest The security authorities are already preparing - after the riots with Frankfurt supporters, some fear that an XXL party will plunge the already crazy city into complete chaos.

To make matters worse, there is trouble between the organized fans and De Laurentiis, a film producer from Rome. The ultras criticize that he wants an operetta audience in the stadium instead of real Tifosi. Because tickets for the quarter-finals in the Champions League – where Napoli meet Milan – have become more expensive, the ultra associations have been protesting against De Laurentiis for months.

On Sunday evening they even didn't use any chants or flags in the stadium; the game felt like an away game. Instead, they loudly protested against their president. Napoli promptly lost 0-4 to AC Milan. An insignificant blip, they believe in Naples, the party planning continues as normal. National player and captain Giovanni di Lorenzo says: “This doesn’t change anything on our way to the championship.” The biggest football celebration since Maradona’s masterpiece in 1990, it can come.

Serie A Italy	SP	TV	P
1. Inter	33	72:32	71
2. Naples	33	52:25	71
3. Atalanta	33	66:30	64
4.Bologna	33	52:37	60
5. Juventus	33	49:31	59
6. Lazio	33	55:43	59
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Between ecstasy and fan anger: Napoli in conflict

The whole of Naples shines in white and blue and is looking forward to a gigantic football party. However, there is also unrest.

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