Naples has been preparing the party for months: streets festooned with banners as blue as the sky above the Tyrrhenian Sea. Even in Italy’s most superstitious city, they cannot pretend to believe that another team will pip them to the Serie A title. Coming out of this season’s final international break, Napoli were 19 points clear of second place with 11 games left to play.
Day by day, more decorations are added: a fresh mural of a tricolore badge celebrating this third Scudetto or cardboard cutouts of players in the Spanish Quarter. Across the city, locals will tell you they are only just getting started. Yet there was no party atmosphere inside their own stadium as Napoli welcomed Milan on Sunday night.
