Serie A: Can Napoli win their first title since 1990?

In his second season as manager, Luciano Spaletti made some drastic moves in the transfer market. Regulars Kalidou Koulibaly, Fabian Ruiz and Lorenzo Insigne were out, opening the door for some new faces. Centre-back Min-Jae Kim was signed from Fenerbahçe, and explosive winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia came from Georgian side Dinamo Batumi. Both players have been integral to the success that has followed.

After kicking off the season in August, Spaletti's free-flowing style of play has stunned almost every team in their path. Before the FIFA Qatar 2022 World Cup break, they went unbeaten in Serie A in the first 15 games.

And the good form continued after the tournament, with their first loss of the season coming in a tight game with Inter at the beginning of January. Later that month, Juventus, one of the biggest clubs in the country, could not live with Spaletti’s team as they were beaten 5-1 at the Stadio Diego Maradona, in what was probably the most complete performance of Napoli’s season. With 13 games to go, Napoli find themselves a resounding 15 points ahead.

In recent times, Napoli have come close to this significant achievement but have always fallen short. They had a recognisable team with many great players that were household names around Europe, players like Kalidou Koulibaly, Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens. But they couldn’t hold their nerve to secure the big prizes in the big moments.

“Under former manager Maurizio Sarri, they played some of the best and most beautiful football we had seen in Italy,” explained European football journalist Mina Rzouki.

“What he created at Napoli will live in legend, but unfortunately for him he couldn’t quite beat a very dominant Juventus at that time.”

In 2021, Napoli hired a new