Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis told fans gathered at the Stadio Maradona that this Scudetto is ‘the starting point’ and aimed a few pointed jabs at those who were ‘acting as brakes’ and ‘weighing down’ the team.
The Partenopei have been top of the table from start to finish and this evening got the point they needed at the Dacia Arena in Udine, thanks to a Victor Osimhen goal.
They won their third Scudetto, after 1987 and 1990, having been rebuilt by De Laurentiis after bankruptcy in 2004 that forced them to start again from Serie C.
There were 50,000 people packed into the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona to watch the match on big screens and celebrate together at the final whistle.
“You always told me, we want to win. And we won! We all won together. And on Sunday against Fiorentina, everyone here for the big party. Thank you to everyone!” said De Laurentiis.
This was followed by the anthem of Naples, Pino Daniele’s wonderful song Napule’, as the stadium lit up with phone lights and tears flowed.
De Laurentiis then took the microphone again to be interviewed and looked back over the course of his tenure 19 years on from that bankruptcy.
“Today is the crowning of an expectation that lasted 33 years. When I arrived, I said it will take 10 years to get into Europe – we maintained that early. I said another 10 years to win the Scudetto, and we did that again a couple of years in advance.
“Now we need to win it again, and again, and again. And of course we’re missing the Champions League.”
Napoli had come close before, most notably with Maurizio Sarri, but De Laurentiis did not miss the opportunity to aim a few jabs at players who left, like Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens and Kalidou Koulibaly.
“This team felt weighed down by responsibility and we needed a group that felt light enough to take flight, not with individuals that were acting as brakes.”
Coach Luciano Spalletti has been instrumental in the title success and is still under contract.
“The project never stops. This is a starting point for me, not an arrival. We resume next season with Spalletti.”
It was pointed out to De Laurentiis that so many wish they could’ve won the Scudetto here and came so close, naming Mertens, Insigne and Koulibaly. Is this title a little bit theirs too?
“Cavani, Lavezzi, Quagliarella, Higuain,” added the President.
“I think we built the Scudetto over all these years. Je ne regrette rien, as the French would say.”
I find it insane that he’s waxing lyrical about all of the club’s achievements in the last 20 years yet he’s criticising the players that forged that success.. Dries Mertens carried Napoli on his tiny shoulders at times, Insigne was loyal even though he was treated like garbage and K2 would’ve left earlier if ADL wasn’t so greedy. This is the start of nothing. It’s the crowning achievement of a brilliant season with 2 breakthrough players dominating but the overall group of players making a team contribution to play some wonderful football. Only a matter of time until ADL’s greed either sells Kvara & Osimhen or keeps them tied down to a measly contract that doesn’t adequately represent their contribution.
Well done Napoli, you did it in spite of a terrible owner so it’s even more of an accomplishment.