As if ready for a long time … The whole city from edge to edge is waiting for what seemed impossible for 33 years. It was in 1990 when Naples celebrated the last time the victory in the championship, when Diego Maradona turned from a mere mortal into a god. Everything in the city – a symbol of the Italian south – reminds of him. From the frescoes in the streets, the church built for him, the many boys named after him.

Now, three decades later, Naples is once again living in this intense rhythm. The championship is just around the corner, which filled its inhabitants with pride. This is easy to understand if you just talk a little with them, walking along its streets.

The 16 points that separate Napoli from second place in Serie A are almost impossible to cover. Spalletti’s side need 15 points in their last ten games to mathematically secure the title, even Lazio following them are doing their best. This fact has already given impetus to the start of preparations for the big celebration of the third championship in its history after the 1986-87 and 1989-90 championships. The city is decked out with flags, stuffed players decorate the streets and all that’s left is the end of the league when Napoli host Sampdoria in the final game on June 4th.

Even the most cautious, those who usually waited for the final whistle of the year, are now already involved in the process. Neapolitans living abroad are preparing to return for the fiesta, as evidenced by hotel bookings reaching 90% in the days leading up to the race in Italy.

“Naples is experiencing a moment of self-awareness and discovery of its greatness,” says writer Angelo Forzon, recalling the startling slogan written on the city’s cemetery wall in 1987 after winning the first Scudetto: “You don’t know what you’re doing.” missing”. Now a generation too young to remember such glory is experiencing it itself. “I was six months old in 1990, but I grew up on videotapes with Diego Maradona,” says CalcioNapoli24 TV’s Vicenzo Crdentino. “With this championship, it’s like a reunion with that era.”

Now is the time when Luciano Spalletti’s players can feel in some ways the same as Maradona. And they entered every house, they are on every wall, and there was also the first baptism of the boy, who was given the name Daniil Kvitsa, in honor of the Georgian ace of the team. Kvitsa Kvaratskhelia. What’s even more impressive about this story is that the father, born in 1986, is named Diego Armando. Today in Naples, not only the title is returning, but also hope.

“Maradona is like God here,” says 23-year-old Maria Roberta De Jesus. “It gave people hope. Neapolitans see themselves in Maradona.”

When the Argentine superstar traveled to Naples in July 1984, the city was still reeling from the earthquake that killed almost 2,500 people four years ago. The streets became the battlefield of the Camorra, unemployment was high, and the Bank of Naples was in danger of bankruptcy.

“However, during the period when Napoli hit the bottom, with the help of politics, they managed to buy the most powerful and expensive player in the world and touch the sky,” adds Forzon.

El Pibe de Oro was everything to Naples, and Naples was everything to him. Residents identified with him not only because he led the team to their first two Serie A titles and the UEFA Cup, but also because they saw themselves in him. They saw the one who opposed the rich north, the one who hit the establishment.

“Maradona understood how to reach the heart of the Neapolitans, he touched the right strings,” explains Credentino, adding: “He had many problems in life, but in Naples we remember him only for the joy he brought us. We associate him as a man with a conqueror – the south has conquered the north.”

No club south of Rome has won Serie A since Napoli’s Maradona, Careca, Ciro Ferrara and young Gianfranco Zola in 1990. , joy and pride once again gave way to the problems that had haunted her for decades.

“People here are Neapolitans first and then Italians,” explains Bellini, the legendary Naples stadium commentator. “They have their own language, culture and history. People in Southern Italy live everything with love, with a lot of emotions, differently than in the North.”

Napoli had to fall before they could get back up. Financial decline, relegation and bankruptcy followed the glory years, but the fans remained. Over 50,000 people attended a Serie C game in 2004/05.
“Football is very important for our city,” explains journalist Elene Lopresti, adding: “It’s not just a sport. It is a tool for the development of us as a society.”

Renowned film producer Aurelio de Laurentiis took the opportunity to buy the club in 2004 and, despite his spontaneity, managed to bring the club back to the stage. There were years when he again tried to get to the spring, but never got drunk on water. Just like last year, when fans even promised to return Spalletti’s stolen Fiat Panda on the condition that he leave the club. But he stayed and now, as Kretenino says, “deserved a Ferrari.”

Spalletti is not from Naples, but shares this Neapolitan passion. After being fired from Inter, he spent two years on his farm in Tuscany before taking over at Napoli. Now he lives near the training center, working tirelessly to bring the Scudetto. Man – the key to success, in addition to Spalletti, is also technical director Cristiano Giudoli. He discovered and joined the team of Kvaratshelia, Oshimen and Min Jae Kim.

Everyone in the city is living for the next few weeks. To the big party that is getting ready to win the title after 33 years. This is certainly a lot, but the expectation was probably worth even more. The only one who won’t be here will be Diego…