With five games remaining in their exceptional 2022�23 season, Napoli has won the Serie A championship for the first time since Diego Maradona captained them to the scudetto in 1989�1990.
This season, Luciano Spalletti's squad dominated the competition in Italy, losing just one of their first 24 league games while accruing an astounding 65 out of a possible 72 points.
Since the scudetto had already become a matter of when rather than if, Napoli's commanding lead ensured that a slightly shaky stretch of form since early March has mattered little.
Even though Napoli has lost more points in their past nine league games than they had in the previous 24, it didn't matter on Thursday night since all they needed was a point against Udinese to mathematically guarantee that Lazio and Juventus couldn't catch them.
It got off to a frightening start when Sandi Lovric gave Udinese an early lead with only 13 minutes remaining after being held to a stalemate by Salernitana the last time out. Victor Osimhen's equalizer in the first moments of the second half�his 22nd goal in Serie A this season�brought glory.
Maradona is renowned for leading Napoli to Serie A championships in 1987 and 1990. The team struggled financially in the late 1990s, and after declaring bankruptcy in 2004, it was relegated to Serie C1. But since joining Serie A again in 2007, they have been a top-tier team.
There have been multiple close calls, with second-place finishes behind Juventus in the 2012�13, 2015�16, 2017�18, and 2018�19 seasons on four separate occasions. But Napoli has won the Italian championship once more.
If the same team does not win it twice, that is one of the best indicators of a competitive domestic division. In Germany's Bundesliga, Bayern Munich has won the last 10, in France's Ligue 1 PSG has won eight of the last 10, and in the Premier League, Manchester City has won four of the previous five championships.
The same was true for many years in Italy, when Juventus won nine straight Serie A championships. But suddenly, things have changed, and Napoli is the fourth different team to win Serie A in the previous four years.
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