A second-half strike at the Dacia Arena in Udine at exactly 9:47 PM from talisman Victor Osimhen sent both the fandom and the city crazy with joy.
Oh, what ecstasy it was. Emanating from the boots of a once-doubted club record signing. The scudetto — the “little shield” that symbolises the Italian Serie A is won — was in hand at last for Napoli! What a reprieve for club president Aurelio De Laurentiis. Despite the outflow of key players in the summer including club captain Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens and defender Kalidou Koulibaly, coach Luciano Spalletti was able to “produce a rabbit out of a hat.”
After finishing third on 79 points in the 2021/22 season — seven fewer than champions AC Milan and five fewer than runners-up Inter — Luciano Spalletti was retained as a head coach to guide a relatively new-look Napoli squad. The squad and the coach had undoubtedly shown promise, but few predicted Napoli would experience an outright dominant domestic campaign in the season to follow. Who would have expected a youngster from Georgia – Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and a South Korean defender – Kim Min-Jae to instantly fit into the culture of the Neapolitans? Even in the world of imagination, to have believed these players would possess the ability to fill the giant standing void left by the departure of Lorenzo Insigne and Kalidou Koulibaly appeared a shot too far to call. Yet, with this very team of unlikelies, the despair of 33 years of fighting was wiped out.
A genius of a domestic season laced with a series of tactical masterclasses from the 64-year-old Spalletti had all other Serie A teams on strings. After what had been a long wait that saw Napoli taste the sour water of relegation, this side’s victory has only raised more intrigue about the club’s history and journey to the scudetto. How did Napoli rise so high from the pre-Maradona days, and fall so low in the post-Maradona era? What did club President Aurelio De Laurentis do to steady the sinking ship of Naples? How have they eventually coasted to glory? In a few words, we can say “It’s been a journey,” and in this piece, we are taking you through this journey.
1990 and the last scudetto
On April 29, 1990, ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ by Sinead O’Connor topped the charts in the US, the Detroit Pistons had just begun their road to a second successive NBA title and cranes began pulling down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate. In Naples on the other hand, Marco Baroni was leaping into the Italian spring air to head a ball past a diving goalkeeper to put Napoli one goal ahead against Lazio. The defender’s powerful header was the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory and those three points assured Napoli’s position atop Serie A, two points ahead of AC Milan who also won that day.
In doing so, Baroni clinched the club’s second-ever Italian league title, cementing its golden era into Napoli folklore – an era spearheaded by the great Diego Maradona. Diego! Diego!! Diego!!! The name echoed through the city of Naples after the Argentine secured Napoli’s second scudetto in 6 years. It was a dream beyond the wildest imagination of a club sited in one of Italy’s most desolate cities.
The dark years
The joy of those two Scudetto title successes didn’t last that long though: Napoli suffered relegations, financial difficulties, near misses and the coming and going of superstars – all without reclaiming that elusive third title.
A year after the 1990 title success, the Napoli team began to deplete with key players departing, leading to a drop in performances.
The headline departure came when Maradona failed a drug test and he left Italy in disgrace after being handed a 15-month ban.
Following years of steady decline, the club was relegated from Serie A in 1998 after claiming a mere 14 points from a total 34 games in the season. Only eight years after being crowned Italian champion, Napoli had found itself in the second tier.
And the disappointment didn’t end there. Despite a small respite back in the top-flight in the 2000/01 season, Napoli was immediately relegated after just one season back in Serie A, and bitterly declared bankrupt for the second year in a row, which saw the club relegated to the third tier of Italian football. The pre-millennium was eventful for Napoli to say the least. From a quick rise to glory and fall to relegation in 1998, here’s a recap of the affairs that brought Naples to its knees.
1984 A comfortably dull mid-table side, Napoli put themselves on the map with their summer signing, a £6.9m purchase from Barcelona. His name? Diego Maradona.
1987 A Maradona-inspired Napoli becomes the first southern Italian team to win the Scudetto, going undefeated at home. The side also wins the Coppa Italia this year.
1989 After some disappointing European Cup outings, the Azzuri get their first taste of continental success in the UEFA Cup, beating Bordeaux, Juventus, and Bayern Munich en route to a 5-4 aggregate win over Stuttgart in the final.
1990 Napoli wins the league again. Their talismanic captain, by now a figure of worship, stirs up trouble by urging fans to support Argentina in the World Cup. After the tournament, he is banned for 15 months for testing positive for cocaine. Diego Maradona never plays for the club again.
1998 In a slow period of decline follows, talented players such as Gianfranco Zola and Fabio Cannavarro leave the club. In 1998, Napoli are relegated to Serie B for the first time in 34 years, after recording just two wins all season.
*Facts courtesy of talksports.
The emergence of a savior/rise from the ashes
Like a phoenix, Naples rose from the ashes. Spearheaded by the most unlikely of saviours – Aurelio De Laurentiis in 2004. When the club was at its most vulnerable financially, in stepped the Italian film giant Aurelio De Laurentiis to rescue the club with the aim of establishing stability and a return to former glories.
Making huge promises of assured success, De Laurentiis – courtesy of his no-nonsense approach to management – brought Napoli back into the Italian top flight within his first three years and into European competitions in the second year back in Serie A. Consistently savvy in his transfer dealings and shrewd coaching appointments, the club established itself as one of Italy’s elite again. Aurelio De Laurentiis’s reign as Napoli’s president has been characterised by promise, and this 2022/23 winning season is his promise delivered. Here’s a timeline of these better years:
2004 After a single season back in Serie A in 2000, SSC Napoli slip to the second tier and are declared bankrupt in August 2004, with debts estimated at €70m. A new club with a new name is formed under the ownership of film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis (image 2) and placed in Serie C1.
2007 Maintaining high attendances help the ‘new’ Napoli Soccer bounce back at the second attempt, and back-to-back promotions sees them return to Serie A in 2007 as runners-up behind Juventus in a crazily strong second division.
2009 After finishing eighth in their first season back, Napoli slip the following year, spelling the end of Edy Reja’s five-year tenure as manager. His replacement, Roberto Donadoni, lasts just six months and Walter Mazzari is brought in from Sampdoria to take the helm.
2011 Mazzari reaps instant rewards, guiding the team to Europa League qualification in his first season back with an exciting attacking squad spearheaded by the talent of Edinson Cavani, who scores 26 goals as Napoli finish third and secure a Champions League spot.
2013 it is announced that Benítez has signed for Napoli, whose manager Walter Mazzarri has just resigned. Benítez agrees on a two-year contract after meeting club president Aurelio De Laurentiis in London. His productive stint restores titles to the Neapolitans, who win both the Supercopa Italiana and an Italian Super Cup.
2015 Former Empoli head coach Maurizio Sarri is named to replace Rafael Benítez at Napoli who was on his way to Real Madrid. Sarri’s time at Naples was beautiful and rosy but was short of the crown jewel – a trophy.
2018 After Sarri joins Chelsea, former Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti is the anointed one chosen by De Laurentiis.
2019 Ancelotti leaves Napoli after 16 months in charge. He finishes second in his first campaign, failing to qualify for the round of 16 of the UCL in the second season. His replacement Gennaro Gattuso only lasts 18 months at the helm of affairs.
2021 Gatusso is fired and replaced by current coach Luciano Spalletti, after losing out on a champions league place to struggling Juventus.
2022/23 is history, as they say.
Owing to Coach Luciano Spalletti’s history and reputation of producing beautiful footballing teams that inevitably falter at the crucial moments – for example, AS Roma and Inter Milan – when his Napoli side led the standings so early in the season, many fans feared it was too early to talk about the title out of fear of jinxing the team. However, now he has finally reclaimed the elusive Scudetto title, fans, and critics alike, are in reverence of the manager’s prowess. In an interview with CNN Sport, stadium announcer Decibel Bellini poignantly sums up the 2022/23 title-winning under Spalletti in three words “This is special.”
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