On Monday, Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti was presented with the Bulgarelli Award for the Best Coach in the Men’s Serie A. The award was promoted by the Italian Footballers’ Association, with the support of the Emilia-Romagna Region and the patronage of the municipality of Bologna. Though all three Italian coaches in the Semi-finals of Champions League hail from Emilia-Romagna, Spalletti was chosen for the award for leading Napoli to its first Scudetto in over three decades.
“Bulgarelli was an important part of the history of Bologna and he did so thanks to his perseverance. Receiving it in the year in which Napoli became the champions of Italy assumes particular importance for me. For this reason I thank those who allowed me to receive it: my players and Napoli Calcio. Then of course this speech ends up where there are behaviours. I talk about behaviours because my players have worked hard all year and have done well everything that was asked of them. They gave maximum availability. They gave everything during these matches. They demonstrated that same attachment to the shirt that Bulgarelli was an absolute example. Thank you all.”
This was already Spalletti’s third award of the season, having already won Enzo Bearzot National Award in March and the Andrea Fortunato Award in February. Spalletti is also expected the earn the Lega Serie A Coach of the Year award at the end of the 2022/23 season.
