Napoli host arch-rivals Juventus riding wave of Scudetto enthusiasm

Napoli are riding a wave of enthusiasm ahead of Saturday’s visit of Juventus as fans begin to believe that Antonio Conte can bring Serie A title glory back to southern Italy.

Conte’s team lead Inter Milan, at Lecce on Sunday, by just three points heading into a huge clash at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona but last weekend’s thrilling win at fellow title contenders Atalanta caught the imagination of supporters.

Around 5,000 of them massed at Naples’ Capodichino airport immediately after a 3-2 win in Bergamo, waiting until the early hours of Sunday morning to loudly greet their team with chanting and flares, before surrounding the coach which was supposed to take the players back to the training ground at Castel Volturno.

It was the sort of spontaneous pilgrimage which highlighted the faith in a second Scudetto for Napoli in three seasons, and was rewarded by Conte taking a megaphone from a hardcore ultra to thank fans for their support.

Conte roared “Come on Napoli!” to the adoring Neapolitans who have taken him to their hearts despite his long association with Juventus, possibly the team fans want to beat more than any other.

The 55-year-old won a host of trophies as player and coach of Juve, where he played more than 400 times and had a key role in Champions League and UEFA Cup victories and eight Serie A titles.

Three league crowns came as coach between 2012 and 2014, consecutive triumphs which re-established Juve as the country’s best team after years of stagnation and made him one of Europe’s top coaches.

Now the Lecce native is gunning for more glory for the country’s poorer, often maligned south, after saying in the summer that taking charge of Napoli was like “a homecoming” after spending a large chunk of his career