Maurizio Sarri came close to winning the Serie A title at Napoli in 2018 and is now the man who could postpone the Partenopei’s title celebrations, already prepared for Sunday.
When Kalidou Koulibaly scored a late winner against Juventus at the Allianz Stadium in April 2018, many thought the Partenopei’s turn had finally come. Instead, the Bianconeri secured a controversial 3-2 win against Inter the following week while Sarri’s Napoli slipped in Florence suffering a 3-0 loss against Fiorentina. The Azzurri eventually earned 91 points in 2017-18, which was still not enough to lift the Scudetto trophy as the Bianconeri won their seventh successive domestic title with 95 points.
Five years later, Napoli’s fate is still, somehow, in Sarri’s hands. There’s no doubt the Partenopei will win their first Scudetto in 33 years this season, but whether they can celebrate it on Sunday largely depends on their former coach.
If his Lazio side beat Inter at San Siro on Sunday, Napoli won’t be able to mathematically put their hands on the long-awaited trophy, even if they win the derby della Campania at home against Salernitana.
The Stadio Maradona clash was initially scheduled for Saturday but has been officially postponed to Sunday at 14:00 UK time, after Inter-Lazio. The decision was formally taken for ‘public security reasons’ urging Lega Serie A to reschedule the fixture alongside two other Serie A games, Udinese-Napoli and Udinese-Sampdoria.
Sarri was born in Naples and still has a solid bond with the club although it’s now a one-sided love. The Tuscan controversially joined Chelsea in 2018, moving to Stamford Bridge alongside Italy international Jorginho and his relationship with fans collapsed one year later when he was hired by their harshest rivals Juventus.
Lazio have been one of the few teams able to beat Napoli this term. It happened in March when the Biancocelesti secured a 1-0 win at the Stadio Maradona. “After this season, if he [Luciano Spalletti] gets where he certainly will, he’ll become the King here. Winning is wonderful everywhere, but winning in Naples is something special,” Sarri said after the final whistle.
“I am happy for Luciano, who will have this experience.”
How soon he will happen, still depends on Sarri as Lazio’s win at San Siro on Sunday will force Napoli to postpone Napoli celebrations to the following week against Udinese at the Dacia Arena.