Victor Osimhen scored his 26th goal of the season while Fabio Quagliarella enjoyed a heartfelt, four-minute long standing ovation during Napoli’s 2-0 victory over already-relegated Sampdoria. Here are three takeaways selected by Forza Napoli Press.
By the Numbers
With the victory, Napoli finished the season with 90 points, only one point less than the club record set by Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli in 2017/18. Though Sarri led Lazio to an impressive second-place finish, the Biancocelesti finished a whopping 16 points behind the league winners.
Victor Osimhen led the way, scoring 26 goals en route to becoming the first ever African Capocannoniere. His goal against Sampdoria was the Nigerian’s 50th league goal since joining Napoli in 2020. Meanwhile, Serie A debutant Khvicha Kvaratskhelia contributed 12 goals and led the league with 10 assists. According to Opta Paolo, only Rafael Leao completed more successful dribbles (79) than Kvaratskhelia (76). The Georgian was the only player in the league with more than 70 shot attempts while also creating more than 50 chances for his teammates.
According to FotMob, Piotr Zielinski created the most chances (84) of any player in the league. Playing Luciano Spalletti’s positive, free-flowing attacking football, Napoli led all clubs in goals scored (77) and were second only to Inter in expected goals (64.7). 18 different Napoli players scored a minimum of one goal this season. The Azzurri’s 105 goals across all competitions was third most in club history, after 2015/16 (106) and 2016/17 (115).
Meanwhile, the Partenopei had the best record in the league in both actual goals allowed (28) and expected goals allowed (31.8). Over 34 league appearances – the most of his professional career – Alex Meret recorded 16 clean sheets, second only to Lazio’s Ivan Provedel. Napoli’s back line featured two of the three nominees for Best Defender in Serie A: quiet captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo and the monster Kim Min-jae. Kim was one of four Napoli award winners, along with Spalletti (Best Coach), Osimhen (Best Forward) and Kvaratskhelia (Most Valuable Player).
But the most important number of all is 3. After 33 years, Napoli are officially champions of Italy for a 3rd time in club history.
Out of Their Misery
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Sampdoria had already been relegated before suffering their league-highest 25th defeat of the season. It’s the first time the Blucerchiati have been relegated in 12 years. Their 19 points is the club’s lowest point haul in the three-points-for-a-win era. Sampdoria also scored the fewest goals (24) and conceded the most goals (71) during the same period.
One of the few bright spots of a rather dreary campaign came only minutes before the season’s end, when Fabio Quagliarella was replaced by Primavera striker Mihailo Ivanovic. The man who was once derided by Neapolitans for leaving their club to join rivals Juventus (before the horrid truth behind his departure was publicized) was the recipient of a four-minute standing ovation from 55,000 fans at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Quagliarella scored 11 goals and tallied six assists during his lone season at Napoli. Born in Castellammare di Stabia, the 40-year-old could not hold back the tears as he walked off the pitch in what was likely his final Serie A match.
“If I could have written the script today, I would not have imagined it so beautiful, but the regret remains for the relegation of Sampdoria,” said Quagliarella, speaking to Corriere dello Sport. “I know the people of Naples well. If they welcomed me like this, it was because they felt it. Since the calendar was released last summer, I’ve been imagining the last match of the season in Naples. And I thought, I will enjoy it since we will already be safe. Instead, it has been more than a troubled year.”
Party Time
While it was nice to close the season with a victory, most people were in attendance to see Giovanni Di Lorenzo lift the Coppa Campioni D’Italia. In typical De Laurentiis fashion, the celebration was grand, including a fireworks display, light show and musical performances. After receiving their individual medals, the players sat stage-left to witness the likes of Nino D’Angelo, who performed the Napoli anthem, Emma, who performed Pino Daniele’s Napule è, Gigi D’Alessio and many others.
Many of those who struggled to get tickets for the match through TicketOne assembled at the Piazza del Plebiscito to watch the events on one of the 19 maxi screens set up through the province. 1.9 million viewers tuned into Rai Due’s broadcast of the festivities, hosted by Stefano De Martino. Though fans were disappointed that the players did not do an open-bus tour, they more than made up for it with their celebrations in the streets of Naples.
