Napoli, the leaders of the Italian Football League, came close to winning the league title, with a huge difference from its closest competitors, the competition title for the third time in its history at the beginning of next week, with record numbers if it beat the struggling Salernitana, and second-ranked Lazio failed to beat Inter Milan.
The victory in Saturday’s match raises coach Luciano Spalletti’s score to 81 points, and he will become the first team to achieve the title six rounds before the end, unless Lazio achieves its first victory in four years at Inter Stadium next Sunday.
Spalletti urged his players not to celebrate the title in advance, despite the team’s closeness to ending Napoli’s wait for the title, which the club achieved under Diego Maradona in 1987 and 1990. Spalletti said "I don’t like to celebrate in advance. If we do it all together, the happiness will be doubled". It is inconceivable that Napoli could lose their 17-point lead in the league over their closest rivals at this stage, but Spalletti’s warning is understandable given the difficult month of April for a team that won only twice in six matches in all competitions. And with no other trophy left to contest after Napoli’s Champions League elimination by AC Milan in the quarter-finals this month, Spalletti can focus on winning the domestic title despite the injury-exhausted defender Mario Rui. Salernitana have improved dramatically since Paulo Souza took over and replaced Davide Nicola in mid-February, moving them out of the relegation zone and 14th in the league after eight matches.
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