Champions Napoli return home as city revels in victory hangover

NAPLES: Napoli's champions returned home on Friday (May 5) after winning their first Serie A title in 33 years, greeted at their training camp by hundreds of jubilant fans following a raucous night of partying in Naples.

Waving blue-and-white flags, singing songs and honking horns, ecstatic fans went wild at the sight of the players' white bus returning to the team's training centre in Castel Volturno, northwest of Naples.

The returning heroes who brought Napoli its third Scudetto in its history Thursday night arrived by plane from Udine at the nearby Grazzanise Air Base, where fans wearing "Champions of Italy" T-shirts were similarly on hand to greet them.

The boisterous celebrations are set to run into the weekend, at least until Napoli's next home fixture against Fiorentina on Sunday evening.

Naples had been abuzz all day, still giddy with joy after nearly all-night celebrations for Napoli's first Serie A title in over three decades.

"It was the most beautiful night," enthused Francesca Raucci, who said her head finally hit the pillow at 4:00 am.

"It was a unique emotion, there was a flood of people, they were hugging each other, dancing."

Throughout the night, Naples' narrow streets were filled with the sounds of cheering, chants, firecrackers and flares, cars and scooters honking their horns, their passengers waving flags and banners.

Amid the celebrations, however, hundreds of people were injured and one man died of gunshot wounds in what Mayor Gaetano Manfredi said was "a settling of scores" unrelated to the festivities.

Napoli's 1-1 draw at Udinese Thursday evening had secured the Scudetto for Luciano Spalletti's side, their first since the era of Diego Maradona, who led the team to victory in 1987 and 1990.

Fans had