A third title will be celebrated for years to come in Naples. Giancarlo Rinaldi has a look at some of the less heralded stars of their historic Scudetto win.
Surely everyone knows how to spell – and pronounce – his name by now. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, along with Victor Osimhen and Kim Min-jae, has become a star of European football while taking Napoli to title glory and deep into the Champions League. But, in a team game, it takes more than just three players to deliver a league title. Who have been the other, less headline-hogging protagonists in their amazing march to glory?
If you want to find Mr Dependable, look no further than the right-back and captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo. He is not a fashionable footballer but slowly but surely people have started to realise just how good a performer he is. His role in Italy’s Euro 2020 triumph was important but he has become even more fundamental for his club side. His calm, control and quality made him a key strength of this side both in attack and defence.
When Napoli were at their cavalier best, he was busy making marauding runs down the flank to combine with Chucky Lozano, Matteo Politano or whoever else was on his wing. The timing of his passes and movement was impeccable and he chipped in the odd goal and assist while helping to close the door at the back. The unassuming Tuscan hero just added another big trophy to his cabinet.
Behind Di Lorenzo, in goal, this has also been a big season for Alex Meret who has emerged as a top-class keeper worthy of national team consideration. He doesn’t do anything too flashy but his record of keeping a clean sheet in 50% of his league games at the time of writing speaks volumes. Yes, he has benefited from a tight defence but he has also been in the form of his life. At just 26, too, he has the potential to improve even further in the years to come.
Another super-consistent performer has been Stanislav Lobotka – the man who makes Napoli tick. He might not hit 50-yard passes or contribute many goals or assists (one of each in Serie A ahead of the round 32 fixtures) but his importance should not be underestimated. The Partenopei have been greater than the sum of their parts this season and he is the man who glues it all together. Without the 28-year-old Slovakian, you feel, it would have been hard for the team to play the way it wanted to.
There were games where he appeared to pop up at the break-down of every attack, sweep up and push his team forward again. His precision passing – with a success rate over 94% – puts him right at the top of the league charts. They may not always have been defence-splitting but they were rarely wasted and always helped his side take control of a game and smother the life out of the opposition.
His partner in crime in bossing games was André-Frank Zambo Anguissa who imposed himself on matches time after time. There could be a tendency to see him as all about physical strength and power but that would be to miss the subtle skill of a lot of his play. He might be considered as something of a mystery by Fulham fans but he was an integral part of taking his new employers to the title.
There were plenty of other key performers who put in lovely cameos or more consistent appearances but a final word for the peerless Piotr Zielinski who delivered a string of assists and the odd goal during this epic season. If there is one undying image of his displays, it is probably the little shimmy he produced which constantly sent his marker the wrong way before unlocking an opposition defence. This was a season full of heroes but the Polish international was definitely a fundamental element of Napoli’s success.
Giancarlo Rinaldi is the author of a number of books on Italian football. He is also half of the Rigore! Podcast team. You can follow him on Twitter @ginkers.