Having just come out of the UEFA Champions League, where they came close to another historic first – reaching the semi-finals, Napoli are on their way to their first Serie A title after a 33-year break. Napoli’s last domestic triumph came in the 1989-1990 season, when the team coached by Alberto ‘Albertino’ Bigon included Giuliano Giuliani, Giancarlo Corradini, Ciro Ferrara, Alemão, Massimo Crippa, Fernando De Napoli, Luca Fusi, Massimo Mauro, Careca, Andrea Carnevale and the great Diego Armando Maradona.
After the heartbreaking UEFA Champions League quarter-final ‘double’ with AC Milan and the league match on 2 April, after a goalless draw at home against Verona, Napoli hit back where they love it best, in the derby with Juventus, Sunday night, 0-1, Raspadori scoring for Napoli in extra time. The away win over Juventus wiped away, especially for Neapolitan fans, all the negatives of late. With seven rounds to go in Serie A, Napoli are 17 points clear of second-placed Lazio Roma. This weekend Napoli will meet Salernitana, unbeaten in the last eight Serie A rounds.
Ahead of the weekend’s fixture, Juventus got back the 15 points cancelled by the Italian courts so the Old Lady found itself in third place in the standings overnight, on a UEFA Champions League spot. The Italian Olympic Committee’s move, which is where the “Juventus case” ended up, has turned the tables on Lazio, Roma, AC Milan and Inter, who now have to fight harder for a place in Serie A’s top four. The defeat to their southern rivals was the third in a row for Juventus, who are still fighting on three fronts: to catch a top 4 position in the Serie A, the Italian Cup and the Europa League. On Sunday night Juventus will travel to Bologna, a trip where the ”Old Lady” has won in the last ten years (with one exception, a 0-0 recorded in 2016).
Surprisingly beaten at home by AC Torino, Lazio Roma missed the chance to consolidate their second position in the Serie A standings, but still remain at five points behind fourth and fifth place AS Roma and AC Milan. This weekend Lazio will play Inter in Milan.
Speaking of Inter, they have qualified for the Champions League semi-finals and seem to have bounced back in Serie A. After five rounds in which they only scored one point (!), Simone Inzaghi’s side won 3-0 at the Stadio Carlo Castellani in Empoli, with Belgian Romelu Lukaku being the man of the match.
AC Milan and AS Roma will meet in another derby that could decide who will make the top 4 and who will not. Both teams are also qualified for the semi-finals of the European Cups: AC Milan in the Champions League and Roma in the Europa League.
Verona, Spezia and Lecce are fighting to avoid the last place that leads to Serie B. This weekend Verona will travel to Cremonese, Spezia will play at home to Monza, and Lecce at home against Udinese.
