Napoli clinched their second Serie A title in three seasons after edging Inter Milan thanks to a 2-0 home victory over Cagliari in a dramatic finale to the season on Friday.
It sealed a fourth Italian championship for Napoli, and a record for coach Antonio Conte, who is the first coach to win Serie A with three clubs after earning titles with Inter Milan and Juventus.
Napoli led defending champions Inter by one point entering the final round, and it briefly looked as if the title might be staying in Milan in the first half.
Inter took the lead over Como in the 20th minute of a game being played simultaneously to Napoli’s match. But it was Conte’s two big summer signings who ensured the Scudetto headed back to Naples.
Scott McTominay went airborne to redirect a cross from Matteo Politano in the 42nd minute for his 12th goal this season after transferring from Manchester United.
Then, Romelu Lukaku, who was signed from Chelsea in August, controlled a long vertical pass and dribbled past two defenders before scoring in the 51st minute. It was the 14th goal for Lukaku, who has a league-leading 10 assists.
It meant Inter’s 2-0 win at 10-man Como wasn’t enough for the Nerazzurri. Napoli claimed the title by one point to ignite celebrations at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, the stadium named after the man who led Napoli to their first two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990.
Conte watched the match from the tribune after getting sent off last weekend. But he went to the pitch at the final whistle and embraced Lukaku, with whom he also won Serie A at Inter in 2021.
After the glory days of Maradona faded, Napoli ended a 23-year wait to win the Scudetto when a team led by Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia marched to glory in 2023.
But, after Napoli finished 10th last season, Conte has returned them to the summit of Italian soccer.
Though a handful of coaches have won Serie A with two teams, no one has done it with three — although there is a significant asterisk.
Fabio Capello lifted league trophies with AC Milan (four times) and Roma before steering Juventus to back-to-back triumphs in 2005 and 2006, but the Bianconeri were stripped of both of those titles because of the Calciopoli refereeing scandal.
Conte inherited a team that was coming off a horrible season, having put up one of the worst title defenses in history and churning through three coaches.
Transforming the team back into a title winner arguably ranks as one of Conte’s biggest achievements.
After losing an opener to Hellas Verona, Napoli won eight of their next nine games before winning seven in a row from mid-December through to the beginning of February.
Even the exit of star winger Kvaratskhelia to Paris Saint-Germain in January did not slow Napoli, who had just one defeat since his exit.
In the absence of Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen who joined Galatasaray on loan last summer Conte has drawn inspiration from Lukaku and McTominay, while building the most solid defense in Serie A.
Napoli will now return to Europe’s premier competition, with a big summer potentially ahead to bolster a thin squad.
Inter, who not long ago were dreaming of a treble, will turn their focus to the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain on May 31.
