Fabio Capello has won the Italian championship nine times in his career. He won it four times as a player and five times as a coach. Today, the 78-year-old follows the competition as a commentator and knows the details of Serie A like no other, so what he says matters. "I think the championship has already been decided in Napoli's favour," he wrote in "La Gazzetta dello Sport".
If he, with his experience, is spreading such an opinion, it probably means that the Azzurri have the Scudetto in their pocket. The Neapolitans can win it on the evening of 23 May in the final round of the Italian top flight. Then they will face Cagliari at home, who have just secured their place in the league. The one-point advantage that Antonio Conte's team has over second-placed Inter may be enough. Anything is still possible, but it seems that the Nerazzurri lost the chance to win the title last round on Sunday, when Lazio drew 2-2 in the penultimate minute of the match. Before Pedro converted a penalty, they were top of the table.
Inter Milan's wines Simone Inzaghi's eleven will play away in Como on Friday, where the hosts, led by Cesc Fabregas, are looking to continue to surprise. The only scenario that would allow Inter to win the title is if the Milanese beat Patrick Cutrone and company, and Napoli fail to win the match against Cagliari.
There is also a possibility that the fight for the Scudetto will be decided only in the play-off match (which would most likely take place in Rome on May 26). This would happen if the teams had an equal number of points – in the case of a draw between Inter and the newcomer and a defeat by the Azzurri against the islanders. In other cases, the title of the best will go to the capital of Campania, where fans dream of another victory in Serie A after a season's break.
The common opinion that has been heard in Italy in recent days is that Inter threw the Serie A title into the bin. This is the opinion of many football observers, as well as several former players. The former Nerazzurro and Italian international Antonio Cassano harshly criticized Simone Inzaghi's team. According to him, as he said during the "Viva el Futbol" broadcast, Inter lost the Scudetto at their own request, despite having 22 basic players.
Naples is already celebrating the championship (Photo: Antonio Balasco, ZUMA / newspix.pl) The misdemeanours of the reigning Italian champion of 2024 are indeed serious. After the 32nd round of Serie A, the team led the table with a three-point advantage over Napoli, but two games later they fell to second place and had three points less than the Azzurri. This happened after losses to Bologna and Roma (both 0:1). It is also worth adding that during the season, Inter lost a total of twelve points in really good situations - they won against Genoa, Juventus, Bologna, Napoli, Parma and Lazio, but ultimately drew.
A similar situation occurred in 2022, when in January Inzaghi's team was the leader of the table after the 23rd round, four points ahead of Milan (and with one less match). Within two months, they lost the advantage and finished the league in second place, two points behind their local rival. The delayed clash with Bologna, which took place on April 27, turned out to be crucial. Then, Inter had a chance to return to the leader's seat, but surprisingly lost 1:2 (this result was influenced by a fatal mistake by the second goalkeeper Ionut Radu during the winning goal for the opponents). Until the end of the season, the team remained behind the Rossoneri in the table.
Napoli is preparing for the event A miracle can always happen. In 2002, Juventus won the Scudetto in the last round, overtaking Inter in the table. On May 5, the Milanese suffered a sensational defeat away to Lazio (2:4), and the Old Lady defeated Udinese 2:0 at the then Friuli stadium. Interestingly, the Biancocelesti included... Simone Inzaghi (who scored a goal against Inter), and the Juve shirt was worn by the current Napoli coach, Conte. Most observers are convinced, however, that on Friday the Azzurri will not waste the chance they have. Everything is in their hands and feet - it is true that the team is indeed tired, but a win against Cagliari is definitely within its reach. "We are going for the Scudetto. Let's stay focused," he said after the draw with Parma (0:0) in Conte's last league match. The coach wants concentration to remain at the highest level.
But some fans have already started celebrating. After the last match, the team was warmly welcomed at the Capodichino airport, where thousands of fans were waiting for the plane that arrived at 1:39 a.m. At 2:00 a.m. the coach left the airport and the great celebrations continued. The fans are happy that this time the Azzurri can triumph at home. Two years ago they won the title in Udine. According to experts, much of the credit for this goes to coach Luciano Spalletti, who created an incredible team that was able to end the season with 90 points.
Naples already certain of the fourth title for Napoli (Photo: Antonio Balasco, ZUMA / newspix.pl) If Napoli were to win the title again, the coach would also play a major role. Conte took over the team, which finished tenth in the table last season. Thanks to him, it has once again joined the fight for the highest goals. So far, it has improved its points tally by 27 points (the biggest progress in the league) and has remained at the top, despite the winter departure of a key player, winger Chwicza Kwaracchelia, to Paris Saint-Germain. On Friday, the former coach of the Italian national team could become the first coach to win the Campione d'Italia title at three different clubs. He previously triumphed at Inter and Juventus – it is said that he could return to the latter team after the end of this season.
Emotions will last until the end The coaches of both teams will not sit on the bench in the final round. Both Inzaghi and Conte have been suspended for red cards received in the 37th round of matches. The Inter coach protested the referee's decision to award a penalty (converted into a goal by Pedro) after consulting VAR. The club declared a press silence because of the referee's decision. Conte, in turn, got into a squabble with Parma's reserves and their coach Cristian Chivu, who was also removed from the bench as a result.
Napoli will end their season after the match with Cagliari, while Inter will not. On May 31, they will play the Champions League final in Munich against Paris Saint-Germain. The Nerazzurri can end the season with two trophies or with none. The season can be a disappointment or a triumph.
