Fourth Scudetto, Napoli Wins Europe's Fiercest League

NAPOLI, SATURDAY — Napoli perfected their superiority in the 2024-2025 Italian League with the championship title in the final week, Saturday (24/5/2025), early morning WIB. Inter Milan and Atalanta took turns disturbing their comfort at the top of the standings, but the "Little Donkey" won the fourth scudetto by occupying the first position for 21 weeks out of 38 weeks passed.

Two foreign players, Scott McTominay (42nd minute) and Romelu Lukaku (51st minute), helped Napoli maintain their position at the top of the standings in the decisive match against Cagliari at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples. Napoli won 2-0 to secure the Italian League title race with a one-point lead over Inter.

Napoli concluded the season with a total of 82 points, while Inter accumulated 81 points. The Italian League has become the most fiercely contested competition among the top five European leagues this season. It is the only competition that awaited the winning team until the final week.

In the final match held simultaneously, Napoli briefly dropped to second place for about 22 minutes. The reason was that Inter took the lead with a goal against Como through a header by defender Stefan de Vrij in the 20th minute of the match.

However, McTominay helped around 54,000 Napoli supporters relieve their tension as the first half was coming to a close. After Lukaku's goal at the beginning of the second half of the match, the Napoli supporters who filled the stadium stands and gathered in Piazza del Plebiscito, the city square of Naples, no longer thought about Inter's result.

They were already singing and chanting the club's chants to celebrate the fourth scudetto in history. Napoli won the Italian League title for the second time in the last three seasons.

McTominay acknowledged that tension and anxiety had overshadowed the Napoli squad during the first half against Cagliari. Nevertheless, the players of the Little Donkey made efforts to maintain their focus, even though several opportunities failed to result in a lead.

"I forgot about the goal because there were so many emotions. We tried to stay focused but there was a bit of nervousness. Now it's time to enjoy the party with the fans and hopefully next season we have the same energy," McTominay told DAZN.

The Scottish player has also been named the Best Player of the Italian League this season. With 12 goals and four assists, McTominay can no longer be doubted as the most important figure for Antonio Conte's team during the 2024-2025 competition campaign.

Remarkably, eight out of McTominay's 12 goals have been breakthrough goals for Napoli when the match was still at 0-0. For McTominay, the quantity of his goal contributions at Napoli represents the best statistical record in his professional career.

"I can't say any more, it's incredible. The sacrifice of every player at the club is massive. The fans deserve this Scudetto too, they've been behind us since day one of the season," said McTominay, who was recruited from Manchester United in the summer of 2024.

Napoli's fourth scudetto is Conte's fifth in his coaching career. He helped Juventus win three Serie A titles, and Inter Milan and Napoli won one each.

Interestingly, Conte ended his former club's reign of giving the scudetto to another club. He ended Juve's record of nine consecutive scudettos when he delivered the league title to Inter in 2020-2021.

Conte also thwarted "I Nerazzurri" from winning two consecutive scudettos this season. He became the fourth coach to lead Napoli to become the king of Italy after Ottavio Bianchi (1986-1987), Alberto Bigon (1989-1990), and Luciano Spalletti (2022-2023).

For Conte, the scudetto with Napoli was his most difficult journey. Moreover, Conte came with Napoli's status as 10th in the 2023-2024 Italian League. After Spalletti left, Napoli experienced being led by three different coaches, namely Rudi Garcia, Walter Mazzarri, and Francesco Calzona during last season.

"This is certainly the most unexpected and difficult challenge of my career. It was not easy to come to Napoli to bring the team back to its original habitat after the chaos of last season. We also tried to persuade some of the best players to stay because I was convinced we could get something positive," Conte was quoted as saying by Corriere dello Sport.

No wonder, Napoli supporters and players love Conte so much. The players threw Conte into the air together after the match against Cagliari ended. They hugged the coach one by one.

Napoli supporters chanted Conte's name in the stadium and corners of the city as an appreciation for the scudettopresentation. There were also loyal Napoli fans who tattooed their bodies with Conte's photo and writing to celebrate this season's league title.

Meanwhile, disappointment erupted at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, home of Como. Goals from De Vrij and Joaquin Correa failed to help Inter claim a fifth scudetto in 21.

This season can be said that Inter failed miserably in the domestic arena. In addition to losing to Napoli for the scudetto, Inter lost to AC Milan in the Italian Super Cup final and was also eliminated by Milan from the Coppa Italia title competition.

Nevertheless, Inter still has one hope of lifting a trophy this season. This opportunity arises in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain in Munich, Germany, next weekend.

"We have done our job well, but winning the league is not entirely in our hands. We must put this disappointment behind us and prepare as best we can to chase trophies in Europe. There is a great desire to end the season with a strong performance in the Champions League," De Vrij was quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport