Napoli win first Serie A title in 33 years
Napoli have secured a first Serie A title since Diego Maradona captained their 1989/90 scudetto, with five games of an outstanding 2022/23 campaign left to play.
Luciano Spalletti’s team made light work of the competition in Italy this season, losing only one of their opening 24 league games and taking an incredible 65 points from a possible 72 during that run.
The commanding lead that Napoli had built up ensured that a slightly stick patch of form since early March has mattered little because the scudetto had already become a case of when rather than if.
Napoli have dropped more points in their last nine league games than in the previous 24, but it mattered little on Thursday night when a point against Udinese was all they needed to make mathematically certain that Lazio and Juventus could not catch them.
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Having been held to a draw by Salernitana last time out, it started off worryingly when Sandi Lovric gave Udinese an early lead with only 13 minutes on the clock. But an equaliser from Victor Osimhen, his 22nd goal in Serie A this season, in the early stages of the second half delivered glory.
Maradona famously inspired Napoli to Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990. The club fell on hard times in the late 1990s and wound up in Serie C1 in 2004 after declaring bankruptcy. But they have been a top flight club ever since returning to Serie A in 2007.
There have been several near misses, finishing second behind Juventus on four occasions in 2012/13, 2015/16, 2017/18 and 2018/19. But Napoli are finally champions of Italy again.