Naples and a historic title run! Why are the Partenopei unstoppable and what are the main factors behind their famous form?

Is it decided? Officially, no, but perhaps few people don’t believe that Napoli will become the Italian league champion this season. The team from under the Vesuvius is going for its first title in 33 years. What’s behind the success of this likeable team?

Several key players, even legends, left in the summer. Kalidou Koulibaly, Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, Fabian Ruiz. On the other hand, several new names arrived for a few euros, from whom perhaps not so much was expected.

That’s why Napoli was not considered one of the favourites to win the Italian Serie A before the season. On the contrary, there was talk of a battle between the Milan giants or a rejoining of the title fight by Juventus. The Partenopei, in short, did not feature in the discussion.

But now 24 league rounds are over, with 14 games left to play and Napoli leading by a whopping 18 points. This means that it will have to win nearly half of the upcoming duels and that Inter and AC Milan will only need wins if they want to catch the leader.

Napoli have only lost once, drawn twice and otherwise only won so far this league season. It has the sovereign best attack, as well as the sovereign best defence.

What is the key to the Partenopei’s successful season?

The star duo of Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia

Napoli have scored 58 goals in the league this season alone. That’s an average of 2.42 goals per game. The main contributor to this is the star offensive duo of Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The former is sovereignly the league’s top scorer (19 goals), while the latter dominates the passing game (9 assists). However, Kvaratskhelia also added 10 league goals.

So it’s more than clear where the offensive phase of the game stands. Osimhen has shown potential for quite some time, however, the 22-year-old Georgian is the biggest discovery of this season. He joined the club in the summer for €10 million and now his value is at least six times higher.

Osimhen is the perfect player to spike. He’s not lazy on the step, he goes into tackles, he keeps a lot of balls, he’s strong, he’s good on the ball and he’s a true right back. He can score from just about any position. He’s uncompromising. There aren’t many better nines in the world.

Kvaratskhelia plays from the left wing again. His style of play is slightly reminiscent of the legendary Diego Maradona and fans have nicknamed him “Quaradona”. He has a great kicking technique and can find Osimhen almost blindly through the centre. He’s not afraid to go alone to the end, 1vs1 duels are no problem for him.

Moreover, both players complement each other perfectly in terms of character. Kvaratskhelia may be in a position to finish on his own, but he still likes to pass to Osimhen to clear the ball into an empty net. Both have great character.

And Osimhen is no egotist. When Giovanni Simeone replaces him, he doesn’t get angry. He doesn’t walk off the pitch angry. And he doesn’t look negative on the bench afterwards either. On the contrary. He lives with the team. He lives every moment. Even on the bench, he can’t sit still, he has to stand and make his emotions clear.

And both players have no problem working backwards and getting involved defensively. In short, an ideal setup.

Unassuming worker Lobotka

When he arrived in Naples, the fans were delighted. It was hoped that he would follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Marek Hamsik, one of the greatest legends in the club’s history. But for a long time, there was no glory. Stanislav Lobotka had various problems. He used to be the target of criticism because of his overweight, his fitness, his form, his style of play.

But this season, the Trencin native is an indispensable part of the lineup. Maybe he’s a bit inconspicuous. He is not the one who creates chance after chance. He’s not handing out one eye-catching pass after another.

What makes Lobotka stand out is how hard-working he is. He plays a clever positional game, holding up the centre of midfield. He’s the man who helps dictate the tempo of the game. He particularly distributes short passes to help control possession. He calms the game in difficult situations. He manages his teammates, and he can even take the ball out of his own half.

His passes are among the most accurate, and he also wins a lot of balls in midfield. In short, he does the black work, which is much needed, even though it is not so visible. He probably won’t reach the fame of his compatriot Hamsik, but he can achieve something his more famous compatriot didn’t – he can win the title and be a key figure in all of this.

A close-knit team, fanatical fans

An extremely important item, but one that has already been hinted at in the case of Victor Osimhen. He could feel like the biggest star in the Italian league. He would have every right to be. He could be upset that he doesn’t play full games. But he doesn’t.

On the contrary. He’s happy to see his rival Giovanni Simeone come through. Simeone himself must have hoped for more time on the pitch. After all, in a Hellas Verona jersey he was one of the biggest attacking threats in the Italian league and under Vesuvius he is rather by-the-numbers in terms of minutes played, although coach Luciano Spalletti always tries to find him at least some minutes.

The whole team is simply running like clockwork. They have managed to put together an excellent group of players with not a single flaw. Of course, it could also be the fact that Napoli hasn’t experienced any crisis this season, which only helps the good setup in the cabin.

Nevertheless, Napoli supporters must be delighted. After all, they too are part of that close-knit collective. The togetherness between them and the players is evident in every game. The whole city is alive with football and dreams of one thing – to be champions of the whole of Italy and to remember the days when Diego Maradona was a hero here.

Now, however, the title will not have just one hero. No. Now the hero will be the whole team, which sticks together and works like a well-oiled machine.

Tactical magician Spalletti

Serie A is an extremely tactical competition. It’s just not moving forward very much. There aren’t many teams in it that play modern, attractive, progressive and realistically effective football. However, wherever Luciano Spalletti has coached, attractive football has been more or less guaranteed.

And it’s no different in Naples, where it hasn’t exactly gone twice in recent years. After all, it is enough to remember how Spalletti did well at AS Roma, with whom he had the only bad luck that Juventus simply had much more money and a better quality squad. Otherwise, he was still on his heels.

Spalletti himself already has some trophies from his coaching career, but he lacks the one for the Italian champion. Now he could finally achieve it at the age of 63 and it will be thoroughly deserved.

As already mentioned, together with the management of the team, he managed to perfectly patch all the holes that were created after the legends’ departure. He knows how to prepare the team tactically. It is also not easy to keep the psychological well-being and good atmosphere in the cabin.

However, it is also worth mentioning that Spalletti can react very sensitively to the course of a match and has the right nose for jokers. Moreover, he tries to use all the players in the squad so that no one feels downright left out.

Moreover, under Spalletti’s leadership, Napoli can also challenge European teams and this was confirmed in the Champions League when they beat Liverpool in the group stage and outplayed Eintracht Frankfurt in the first round of the play-offs.

Source: SSC Napoli, Serie A, Transfermarkt, WhoScored, FBref