Conte masterminds ‘most unexpected’ scudetto with single-minded Napoli

Antonio Conte had asked a city not to get ahead of itself, not to celebrate this Serie A title before its team earned it. “I don’t want to see flags here and there with numbers on,” he said after the draw with Parma in the penultimate round. Everybody knew what he meant: Napoli were in touching distance of their fourth scudetto but, for a superstitious manager, now was not the moment to say it out loud.

Related: Napoli secure Serie A title after Scott McTominay’s stunner sees off Cagliari

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Supporters held off for as long as they could. Not until the final moments of Napoli’s 2-0 win over Cagliari on Friday did the giant white sheet come cascading down the stands of the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona with an enormous black “4” in the middle. Green and red flares were set off either side to create the colours of the Italian flag. The same that appear on a scudetto badge.

Conte was watching from a private box, banned from the touchline after a red card against Parma. Even he was starting to surrender to this moment. Thousands more fans were already gathering outside the sold-out stadium, setting off the first pyrotechnics on another night of Neapolitan fireworks that could put Mount Vesuvius to shame.

It was not supposed to happen this quickly. Napoli waited 33 years between their second and third Serie A titles, and even that felt impossibly soon to supporters who had imagined it might never happen again without Maradona wearing the shirt. The manager who ended that drought, Luciano Spalletti, collected his winner’s medal and immediately rode off into the sunset in his newly repainted Fiat Panda.

Few expected Napoli to be contenders this season. Yes, that title win under Spalletti was only two years ago and, yes, Conte was a serial champion who had claimed league titles before with Juventus, Chelsea and Inter. But as he reminded us often, Napoli finished 10th last season.

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Their top scorer of the last two years, Victor Osimhen, was packed off to Galatasaray in an unhappy loan deal compromise to save on his wage bill. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the other standout performer from Spalletti’s scudetto-winning team, was sold to Paris Saint-Germain in January without a replacement. David Neres, his alternative on the left of attack, promptly got injured.

And yet Napoli, even after beginning their season with a 3-0 defeat to Verona, have occupied first place for more than half of this campaign. Rarely spectacular, and occasionally downright unconvincing, they made virtues of consistency and single-mindedness. Unlike their title rivals, they began without European distractions. They exited the Coppa Italia in the last 16 after fielding a weakened team against Lazio.

Where Inter stumbled in key head-to-heads – they dropped five points to each of Juventus, Milan and Bologna – Napoli largely avoided such demoralising setbacks. There were some brief wobbles, in February and again over the last fortnight, when draws against Genoa and Parma gave Inter a chance to steal ahead. But the Nerazzurri twice let a lead slip against Lazio to blow what turned out to be their last chance.

There were brief moments of tension on Friday night. Napoli began with a one-point lead over Inter, who kicked off at the same time at Como and took the lead through Stefan de Vrij after 21 minutes. Briefly, they moved ahead in the real-time table.

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Napoli were making things look hard in front of goal, a common theme of this season. All except for Scott McTominay, that is. The man whose man nicknames in Naples include Apribottiglie – Bottle Opener – popped the cork on the night’s celebrations with a sensational scissor-kick just before half-time.

There could be no more fitting way to get the party started. This was McTominay’s 12th goal of the Serie A season, and the eighth time he has broken a deadlock at 0-0. Little wonder that he should receive the league’s Most Valuable Player award at full time.

What an inspired piece of business his signing looks with hindsight. Napoli paid just over €30m to sign McTominay from Manchester United right at the end of last summer’s transfer window. His goals have been essential but so has his versatility, lining up at different times as a box-to-box midfielder, No 10 or wide on the left.

Still, Napoli are not a one-man show. It was Romelu Lukaku who made it 2-0 soon after the break, holding off Michel Adopo and dribbling past Yerry Mina as he ran half the pitch to drill a finish past the goalkeeper Alen Sherri. The Belgian’s 14th goal of the campaign, to go with a league-leading 10 assists.

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He is a different player now to the one who fired Conte’s Inter to the title four years ago. Yet the bond between them is the same. When the manager finally was allowed on to the pitch at full time, he made a bee-line straight for Lukaku, sharing a long and heartfelt embrace.

The club’s president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, stood awkwardly to the side, awaiting his turn. It is no secret that there has been tension between him and Conte, the manager frustrated – and you’ve heard this one before – with a perceived lack of investment in the squad, especially after Kvaratskhelia’s departure. Neither would commit in post-game interviews to the manager being back again next year.

Who cared about that anyway? This was a night to celebrate, not to worry about what comes next. Napoli fans are living through the most successful domestic chapter in their club’s history. Not even Maradona won two scudetti here in three years.

This story is more remarkable for the upheaval in the middle of it – the fact neither Spalletti nor his two best players stayed around for this second triumph. Napoli went through three managers last season before landing Conte in the summer. De Laurentiis is clearly doing a lot right, but he doesn’t half find unconventional ways to do it.

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Conte, the first manager to win Serie A with three different clubs, called this: “The most unexpected, difficult and stimulating scudetto of my career.” Imagine how it must feel to the players who have stayed through this whole journey, footballers who perhaps do not get enough credit in among the praise rightfully being heaped on the likes of Lukaku and McTominay.

Frank Anguissa was magnificent again this season, owning the middle of the pitch and driving his team forward in possession. Amir Rrahmani stepped up brilliantly at centre-back after summer signing Alessandro Buongiorno was injured. Giovanni Di Lorenzo, the club captain, was back to his best after a disappointing last season.

They all went under the Curva together at the end. Conte held up a piece of card in the shape of a scudetto badge. On it was a slogan made around a number that no longer felt scary to say: “Ag4in”.