Conte’s next triumph? Napoli on the verge of an historic Serie A win

By Canadian Press on May 22, 2025.

MILAN (AP) — Antonio Conte is on the verge of making history.

He would become the first coach to win Serie A with three different teams if Napoli clinches the trophy.

Napoli heads into its final match of the season, at home to Cagliari on Friday, with a point advantage over defending champion Inter Milan, which visits Como.

“We have our teeth into it and we mustn’t let go,” Conte said.

Conte has already won four Italian leagues. He led Juventus to the first three of its nine successive Serie A titles in each of his three seasons in charge from 2011-14, and won it with Inter in 2021.

In between them, he bagged a Premier League title with Chelsea in 2017.

While a handful of coaches have won Serie A with two teams, no one has ever done it with three. Although there is a significant asterisk.

Fabio Capello lifted league trophies with AC Milan (four times) and Roma before steering Juventus to back-to-back triumphs in 2005 and 2006, but the Bianconeri were stripped of both of those titles because of the Calciopoli refereeing scandal.

That also saw Juventus demoted to the second division and its glory days were long behind it when Conte took over and immediately renewed its dominance of Italian soccer.

Conte also ended an 11-year title drought at Inter.

Napoli has not had as long a wait having won Serie A in 2023, but reclaiming it would be arguably one of Conte’s biggest achievements.

The 55-year-old Conte inherited a team that was coming off a horrible season, having put up one of the worst title defenses in history, finishing 10th and churning through three coaches.

Key players departed including Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Kim Min-jae.

But Conte has worked his scudetto-winning magic and has transformed Napoli from Serie A has-been back to potential title winner.

“I sincerely hope to be able to celebrate this championship because it would be something beautiful, also because of the energy I have spent,” Conte said.

“It would repay me for everything I have put into it this year. I went beyond my limits. I’m very tired, I’m only just managing to get to the end.”

The city of Naples is fizzing with excitement at the prospect of a second title in three years. That’s a shorter span than the two championships in four seasons with Diego Maradona in 1987 and 1990.

Conte said after Napoli’s penultimate match that he just had one thing to tell his players: “Let’s go get this scudetto!”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Daniella Matar, The Associated Press