In the end, a 1-1 draw at Udinese Calcio was enough – with the point in the north, SSC Napoli secured the 2023 Italian football championship on Thursday evening, crowning an outstanding season.

With five games to go, "Gli Azzurri" ("The Blues") have a 16-point lead over second-placed Lazio Roma in Serie A, making them unassailable. Sandi Lovrić put the hosts ahead in the 13th minute before top scorer and former VfL Wolfsburg professional Victor Osimhen equalized in the 52nd minute - and the third championship title for the SSC after 1987 and 1990, at that time still with them Diego Maradona, within reach.

The club has dominated Serie A from the start this season and has impressed with exciting attacking football - without having a large star ensemble. The reward for the outstanding season is the first championship after 33 years.

After the final whistle, all the dams broke in Udine's sold-out Stadio Friuli. tears of joy flowed; Hundreds of Naples fans who had traveled with them stormed the field to celebrate the team of coach Luciano Spalletti.

In Naples, too, the evening ended in unbridled jubilation. Tens of thousands of fans watched the game on screens in the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, countless saw the game in restaurants or on the squares of the southern Italian port city. "The Maradona explodes at the final whistle," wrote the "Corriere dello Sport" on a video from the home of the SSC.

The blue-and-white ecstasy began during the 90 minutes. How long he will go no one knows. SSC Napoli is Italian football champion, "Campione d'Italia di calcio".

Sources: Dazn, "Kicker", "Corriere dello Sport", DPA news agency