Amazing memories of Diego Maradona’s enduring spell in Italy’s top flight are up once again as Napoli savour their place at the top of Serie A after 25 years ahead of Sunday’s trip to Bologna.
The year was 1990 and Maradona, who had helped Napoli to their first league title three years earlier, was in his pomp as Napoli strode towards their second and last ‘scudetto’.
Unbeknown to fans, it would be the last time Napoli sat top of the Italian league table for 25 years – a wait that ended Monday when Gonzalo Higuain struck twice in a 2-1 win over 10-man title rivals Inter Milan.
Napoli sit top with a lead of one point on Inter, two on Fiorentina, four on Roma and seven on resurgent champions Juventus. As most of their rivals may have noticed already, Napoli’s return has not been by chance.
After some early wobbles, Maurizio Sarri’s men arguably boast the most potent attacking game in the league and, along with Inter (nine goals) have Serie A’s stingiest defence.
The Azzurri sit firmly among the favourites to end Juventus’s four-year reign, but 25 years after Maradona’s Napoli reign was ended by a positive test for cocaine in the wake of the 1990 World Cup, Higuain remains modest.
“We deserve to be where we are but now we have to make the most of it,” said Higuain after Monday’s game, where he milked the applause of near hysterical fans at the San Paolo.
“But we have to get used to suffering: I don’t know any teams that are successful and don’t know how to suffer.”
Asked about Napoli’s title hopes, Higuain said: “Dreaming isn’t forbidden. But we will continue to take it game by game.”
Napoli’s return has added spice to an already intriguing battle for Serie A supremacy.
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