On Saturday, Luciano Spalletti expressed his belief that Napoli is capable of winning their first Serie A title in over 30 years.
Fans of the team are eager to see if this weekend’s matches will finally bring an end to the long period without a Scudetto.
Napoli’s path to the title involves Lazio not winning against Inter Milan on Sunday and Napoli securing a win over Salernitana in a match that was rescheduled.
The team last won the title in 1990, with six games to spare, setting a record. Despite the pressure and anticipation, Spalletti remains confident that his team will not succumb to the weight of expectations.
“We need to keep doing what we’ve done up to now. There are things above us that we can’t control, and we’ll adapt to them,” Spalletti told reporters.
“But we’ll be ready to play the match tomorrow as we would have been to play today, with everything little bit of strength we have, and even that which we don’t have.
“We just want to go out there and play the match.”
Napoli’s match against Salernitana has been rescheduled for Sunday afternoon, as security authorities in Naples requested a change in the fixture date.
Fans in Naples are expected to celebrate wildly over the May Day weekend, which lasts until Monday, if Napoli win the game and secure their first Serie A title since 1990.
Diego Maradona, who was the key player in Napoli’s previous two title wins in 1987 and 1990, is an iconic figure for the club.
“It’s above all about them who we should be thinking about… Let’s think about them because they’ve had the joy of watching a group of committed players who give everything for them,” added Spalletti.
“They have shown a lot for us, and have been really important in us having such an exciting end of season.”
Salernitana’s owner, Danilo Iervolino, was very angry about the decision to move the match and claimed that his team was not consulted.
He is also upset that his team has one less day to prepare for their next match on Wednesday night against Fiorentina. Salernitana’s safety in Serie A is not yet secured, so the match against Fiorentina is very important for them.
“We haven’t left our season in the hands of the Naples prefect or fate… our desire is to make people happy. They waited for us for hours at the airport and for the team bus,” said Spalletti.
“We haven’t done anything as a team, and the fixture change meant we had to change our plans during the week. We have to accept it because it’s come from a desire to maintain public order.
“Our team doesn’t need to change anything, I’m sure, looking at the desire shown in training, that we will play our game. Whether that will be enough I’m not sure because we have a good team in front of us.”
