With Inter’s unexpected 1-1 draw on Monday night at Sampdoria, Napoli were left with a 15-point lead over the second-placed Nerazzurri in the Serie A standing. It’s a fantastic position to be in at this stage of the season and the Napoli faithful can finally sense the smell third championship in its history, the first since 1990.Luciano Spalletti’s team will surely win the title if they win 12 out of their 16 remaining games – but their opponents’ poor form this year suggests they’d be fine even if they win half of their remaining games. Spalletti’s job now is to try and keep the players grounded and professional – to avoid any sort of late drama.Grateful To GOD Almighty🙏🏽⚽️ pic.twitter.com/rSFKGKizrX— Victor Osimhen (@victorosimhen9) February 13, 2023 Now it’s no longer ‘if’, but ‘when’ the title will arrive to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Many people in the city are starting to circle a particular date in red on the calendar: 7 May, when Fiorentina will arrive to the city. By all accounts, that day will be a big party.Since the beginning of the year, there have been many incredible similarities with the 1986/87 season, the one when the great Maradona won Napoli their first-ever Scudetto. El Pibe del Oro’s team secured their title on 10 May 1987, at the same stadium, with a 1-1 draw against Fiorentina.##NAJAVA_MECA_7023614##But what are these similarities that are making an entire city dream? Well, here’s three.The presidents – Corrado Ferlaino, patron of Maradona’s Naples, became president in January 1969 and won his first championship in 1987, 18 years and a few months later. Aurelio De Laurentiis took over the then-bankrupt Napoli in 2004 and could win the title 18 years and a few months after his arrival in the shadow of Vesuvius.The coaches – Ottavio Bianchi won the Scudetto in his second season as Napoli coach after a third place finish in the first. Luciano Spalletti finished third last year and this is his second season in the blue.The first defeats – In the year of their first title (which arrived after Maradona’s World Cup victory for Argentina, another coincidence), Bianchi’s team also lost their first match after the Christmas break, 3-1 at Fiorentina on the 4 January 1987.History can’t help but repeat itself. The time has come.
