Naples, fourth scudetto. The city celebrates after the 2-0 against Cagliari. Inter wins but it's not enough
The explosion of joy, The deafening roar that shocked Naples came at 9.39pm when, 3 minutes from the end of the first half, Scott McTominay, the flying Scotsman who made Napoli fly, invented a scissor kick that gave the Neapolitans the lead over Cagliari.
And at that moment Inter, who are winning 1-0 in Como (De Vrij), understand that it's all over. That Napoli is going to Heaven. And that this strange championship, with a surreal slow-motion final rush of tired marathon runners, is now in its final credits. And that the endless Neapolitan party, which will end with Lukaku's 2-0, blazes from Maradona to Piazza del Plebiscito with that unstoppable force that Naples has when it is truly happy.
After all that holding back, after all the efforts to superstitiously hide every allusion to the fourth Scudetto in its history, nothing can stop this beneficial eruption of happiness from overflowing. The fourth title (after those of 1987 and 1990 with Maradona, and that of 2023 with Spalletti) finally lands in the Gulf after a few too many scares, like the one with Parma last week.
But now it's water under the bridge. The dross of a head-to-head that can be filed away. The mission is accomplished and Naples is rallying around its iconic man, Antonio Conte, who has revived a team that a year ago had finished the tournament in tenth place. If it's not a miracle, it's not far off considering that in January, to raise money (75 million), Kvraratskhelia was also sold, the Georgian gem who with Osimhen had made Naples fly towards the 2023 championship.
Conte, sucked into the party, is praised as the Masaniello of the new millennium. Not only has he won his fifth title as a coach with the third different team (record) but he is also the first man from the South to win a championship leading a team from the South. Everyone embraces him, everyone wants him because they know that as long as he is there the city will continue to sing; if instead he leaves, following his instinct as a winning vagabond of football (a return to Juventus is likely), everything could be put back into play again as happened after Spalletti's farewell. This is why the embrace with the president, Alfredo De Laurentiis, the other architect of this triumph with 2 championships in three years, is observed and scrutinized with that special Var that measures the empathy between two protagonists with very pronounced egos.
There is a hug, but not one you would expect among the raucous fans of happiness. It is a restrained hug, a little cold, that does not reveal great affection, but only mutual respect. We must also tell the truth: if Conte was the deus ex machina, President De Laurentiis was the great architect of a project on which, 12 months ago, no one would have bet a cent. On this night of love, with Maradona gone mad, the president, also ensuring healthy budgets, managed to hit a new goal, the last of a journey that began 21 years ago. Every now and then he also took some swerves - like the post-Spalletti slump - but then he brilliantly managed to get back on his feet. "If Conte wants to continue, we will be happy. But it is not an obligation" specifies De Laurentiis with notarial scruple that is not exactly auspicious. In the city of song and smile, Adl is not a monster of sympathy. Patience, nobody is perfect.
"It's the most beautiful scudetto precisely because it's the most unexpected" underlines captain Di Lorenzo, a pillar of the defense, strongly desired by Conte. It's true, Napoli has not been the strongest team in this championship, as happened last year to Inter and two years ago to Spalletti's Neapolitans. However, Napoli, unlike Inter, has excelled in suffering and sweat, working better on its fragilities. Without Kvara and Osimhen, and with a Lukaku no longer explosive, but important (14 goals), Conte has strengthened the defense by promoting Buongiorno to the central pivot of a back four that has conceded only 27 goals, the best defense in the championship.
With an attack that wasn't exactly explosive (59 goals, a negative record for a champion team in Italy), Conte was able to give the midfielders permission to score. And here the Scottish McTominay (12 goals) stands out like a giant, a decisive man even in the final act in a breathless finale in which there was no shortage of setbacks and fears. "My most stimulating victory, we did something incredible" Conte repeats.
There is a lot of anger in Inter. Which also emerged after the easy victory over Como (0-2, Devrji and Correa), like a rancorous lump that cannot be calmed despite the upcoming Champions League final with Paris Saint Germain.
Beyond the superficial appreciations, messages and formal compliments to Napoli, among the Nerazzurri there is a bad feeling: that of having missed another opportunity, which seemed within reach as already happened with Milan in 2022. Rather than looking at Napoli, good at working on its weaknesses, Inter should ask themselves what their limits were in a season where it would not have been impossible to make the dream of the Champions League coexist with that of a new Scudetto.
With a better equipped and tested squad, this was the right season to give the best. Instead, there were many blackouts. A long list of wasted opportunities. Starting from the 2-2 with Lazio in the last match at San Siro. It is useless to continue to blame the referees, the VAR and the cynical and unfair fate. The impression is that Napoli, when they were on the ropes, knew how to grit their teeth more, probably thanks to the ferocious pressure from Conte. Inzaghi's team, especially in the championship, had too many pauses. Even more guilty if they thought they were the best.
Now for Inter comes the most difficult week. The one that precedes the final on May 31 in Monaco. We need to digest the disappointments, put behind us a period of ups and downs that must be managed with clarity and strong nerves. There is a great goal ahead, but we need to get there with the strength and serenity of those who, behind us, have no regrets.
News and insights on political, economic and financial events.
Sign up
ilsole24ore
