Italy hosting England will not be the biggest footballing event in Naples this season.
That will be when Serie A’s runaway leaders clinch a first Scudetto since the heady days of Diego Maradona in this football-mad city - and then celebrate in style. The first time Napoli ever won the Serie A title in 1987, Ultras hung a banner outside the largest cemetery after the biggest party ever which read: ”You don’t know what you’ve missed.”
Now 33 years on after the Argentine inspired Napoli’s second and last Scudetto - and going out of business and starting again in C1 (the third division) - they are closing in on another unforgettable firework party. After weekend defeats for Inter, Milan and Roma, Luciano Spalletti’s vibrant side are now 19 points clear at the top of the table and could clinch the Scudetto in the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona against Salernitana on April 30.
Even the scarily superstitious Neapolitans, who live under the constant threat of the overdue Mount Vesuvius, believe it is finally their fate to win the title in his honour.
President Aurelio De Laurentiis, the film producer who bought the club in 2004, said: “The story of Napoli is like an epic poem. In its history it has only won two league titles, then the club went bankrupt and in 19 years it has been rebuilt. Winning the scudetto would mean prestige, good business and prosperity. And quite a celebration! It would be the culmination of a truly extraordinary decade after having the courage and foresight in the summer to rejuvenate the team under Spalletti.”
Kalidou Koulibaly, Fabian Ruiz and Arkadiusz Milik were sold and fan favourites Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne left at the end of their contracts. But the €12m signing of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia - and his partnership with striker Victor Osimhen - has electrified the team and the city.
The Georgian and Nigerian have combined to score 33 Serie A goals as Napoli - also through to their first ever Champions League quarter-finals - have already won 30 games this season and scored 91 times
Kvaratskhelia’s ridiculous slalom run and goal against Atalanta showed why he has been dubbed Kvaradona and Napoli fans want him to be allowed to wear the retired No.10 shirt. Dutch legend Marco Van Basten said: “If you watch the move back, you’ll see it’s eight against one. You think to yourself, he can’t score a goal like that.”
Osimhen face masks - the Nigeria suffered an eye socket injury in November 21 - are worn in tribute by Napoli fans for the striker who would be perfect for the Premier League. After Sunday’s 4-0 win at Torino on Sunday where Osimhen scored twice, Spalletti said: “Victor in the box is like a dragon with two heads. A real monster.”
On-loan Spurs midfielder Tanguy Ndombele also scored with former Fulham midfielder Andre-Frank Anguissa also in a Napoli side which has drawn praise from the godfather of Italian coach Arrigo Saachi. "This Napoli are spectacular and a team one step away from legend,” said the former Milan boss.
"They are in the wake of the greats of the past, [Rinus] Michels' Ajax, Guardiola's Barcelona and my unbeatable Milan. "I never get tired of watching them play. I’m rooting for them. I even shouted out when Kvara scored that goal. I scared my wife and she said: ‘Arrigo, what is happening?’ I said it is time for Napoli to win the scudetto.”
But like some Liverpudlians, Neapolitans have an ambiguous relationship with the national team. Maradona infamously called for Napoli fans to support his Argentina in the 1990 World Cup semi-finals against the Azzurri in the city because he had done more for them than Italy. Last week’s crowd trouble around the Champions League tie with Eintracht Frankfurt caused De Laurentiis to call on Italian PM Giorgia Meloni to have the “courage” of Margaret Thatcher and stamp out hooliganism.
But the Napoli owner has called on locals to come and support Robert Mancini’s side on Thursday night. “Let it be another football party,” he said.
