Napoli Move Closer To Historic Scudetto As Champions League Race Heats Up In Serie A

Last night, Napoli’s late victory at Juventus felt like a title win for the Partenopei fans, who welcomed their heroes back to Naples by gathering around the team bus and chanting loudly in celebration.

The league leaders, who are now 17 points clear of second-placed Lazio, could put their hands on the 2022/23 Scudetto next week with six Serie A rounds to go.

Napoli didn’t take long to recover from the UEFA
EFA
Champions League elimination, when they were knocked out by AC Milan despite pulling off convincing performances in both legs.

Last night, the game at Turin’s Allianz Stadium was packed with late drama. In the 83rd minute, Angel Di Maria was clinical at finishing off his side’s counterattack but had his goal disallowed by VAR, which detected an offensive foul right before Juventus’s breakaway. A few minutes later, Dusan Vlahovic tapped the ball into the net following a pinpoint assist by Federico Chiesa. Once again, however, the goal couldn’t stand, as the ball was ruled out of bounds on Chiesa’s cut-back pass.

The Bianconeri’s night was completely spoiled in the third minute of stoppage time, when Italy international Giacomo Raspadori, who had come in as a late substitute to replace Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, hit the target with a beautiful left-footed volley, giving Napoli the 25th win of their outstanding Serie A campaign.

Luciano Spalletti’s men now enjoy a comfortable 17-point lead over second-placed Lazio with seven games to go until the end of the 2022/23 campaign, but the league schedule suggests they might celebrate the title already next week.

In the event that Napoli win at home against Salernitana and Lazio drop points to Inter Milan at San Siro, the Partenopei will be crowned champions of Italy, thus putting an end to a 33-year Scudetto drought.

Meanwhile, a number of Serie A clubs are in the scramble for a top-four finish, which grants access to Europe’s most remunerative competition, the UEFA Champions League.

Lazio, who are currently sitting in second place, unexpectedly stumbled at home against Torino. Maurizio Sarri’s entertaining playing style failed to deliver this time, and the Biancocelesti missed out on a great chance to collect points and widen the gap over the chasing teams.

Lazio are closely followed by Juventus, who had their 15-point deduction temporarily overturned. However, the Bianconeri’s position in the table is still uncertain, as another Federal Court trial is expected to issue the final verdict in the coming weeks.

Inter Milan got back to winning ways after a disastrous 0-1-4 run in the last five Serie A matches, thrashing Empoli thanks to a Romelu Lukaku brace and a Lautaro Martinez goal.

Their city rivals and next opponents in the UEFA Champions League semi final, AC Milan, took care of business at home with a 2-0 win over Lecce, both goals courtesy of Rafael Leao. The Rossoneri are level on points with AS Roma, who have one game in hand and are scheduled to face Atalanta in the Monday night clash.

Five clubs are standing within seven points in the Serie A table, which currently reads: Lazio 61, Juventus 59, AS Roma and AC Milan 56 and Inter Milan 54. Serie A has major head-to-head fixtures in store for the remainder of the 2022/23 campaign, which could make a difference in writing some teams off the race for a top-four spot.

It’s worth noting that four of the five clubs in the mix are still involved in the semi finals of either the UEFA Champions League (AC Milan and Inter Milan) or the UEFA Europa League (Juventus and AS Roma), where they are chasing international glory as well as the financial rewards that come with it.

These teams must cleverly ration their energy to make sure they take care of business domestically while being mentally and physically prepared for what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lift prestigious European silverware.