Has the race for the Scudetto already been decided, even though the first half of Serie A will only end next weekend with the 19th match day?

Who can still endanger Naples with a nine to ten point lead over weakening pursuers?

In any case, the Tifosi of SSC Napoli can dream: of winning the third title in the club's history, after the historic championships of 1987 and 1990.

Matthias Rub

Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.

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A good three decades ago, Diego Armando Maradona had delirious the capital of the Campania region.

Maradona is still omnipresent in Naples two years after his death.

It can be seen on huge murals, as well as on coffee cups and other knick-knacks in souvenir shops.

His number ten jersey is selling as ever.

The stadium also bears his name: it was renamed shortly after Maradona's death on November 25, 2020, in honor of the city's greatest "adopted son".

"Humiliation" for Turin

Around 64,000 Napoli Tifosi were able to experience a memorable spectacle there on Friday evening.

Nominally, it was the duel between the leaders and the pursuers, who had recently gone through a series of eight wins without conceding a goal.

But then Naples finished off the Vecchia Signora 5:1.

It was a class difference, playfully, physically and mentally, that led to the Bianconeri's heaviest competitive defeat in almost 30 years.

It was a "shame", a "humiliation" for Turin, the newspapers wrote the following day, while Naples "shone brightly like a star".

Juve coach Max Allegri, who had led his team back to the minimalist, successful football of their glorious times in recent months, conceded: “The defeat is deserved.

Now we have to get back on our feet.”

Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti stated: "My team played a great game with a very high pace.

After so many years we can finally hope for the title again.”

As was the case throughout the season, the key to Napoli's success was the attacking combination of Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen and Georgian 'prodigy' Khvicha Kvaratschelia, this season's Serie A revelation par excellence.

Against Turin, Kwarazchelia played once in each half for Osimhen, who returned the favor with an assist for the 21-year-old Georgian before the break whistle.

Turin falls behind

The interim 1: 2 by the Argentine world champion Angel Di Maria just before the break spurred on Napoli even more.

After the break, Amir Rrahmani made up for the mistake he had made when Di Maria conceded with a volley from the back that is well worth seeing, before Osimhen's second goal and Eljif Elmas's deflected shot made it the end of the game.

Torino dropped to third on Saturday behind champions AC Milan, who struggled to score at US Lecce (2-2), while cup winners Inter settled into fourth with a lackluster working win over Hellas Verona (1-0). fixed.

More than a drop of bitterness for Napoli is the fact that Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi on Saturday imposed a two-month stadium ban on the Tifosi of Naples - and also AS Roma - for away games. In general, tickets for these games may not be sold to people who are resident in the provinces of Naples and Rome.

The reason for the penalty is the mass brawl of more than 300 Tifosi of the two clubs, who met when driving to their teams' away games on January 8th at a motorway service station in Tuscany.

The dangerous riot, in which firecrackers and smoke bombs, iron rods and clubs were used, led to hours of blockade of the highway near Arezzo, a traffic jam formed up to 15 kilometers long.

However, the stadium ban for the Napoli-Tifosi does not apply to the first leg of Naples in the round of 16 of the Champions League at Eintracht Frankfurt on February 21.