Naples-Spalletti, bizarre farewell. The fans are talking about this, not the Scudetto – Corriere.it

NAPLES If there was an award for the craziest game of the year, Napoli-Inter could win it. Forget, for a moment, the game and the result, which we will talk about. Focus on two facts. Napoli celebrates the well-deserved Scudetto with the Champions League finalist. And what are the fans mulling over? On the metaphysical divorce between a winning coach (Luciano Spalletti) and a grateful president (Aurelio De Laurentiis). And Simone Inzaghi’s team? He plays at the home of the new Italian champions without excessive conviction, and gives the impression of having his head and heart elsewhere (Coppa Italia, Champions).

The result? A regret. It could have been a magnificent match between two strong and rightly proud teams, something else came out of it. Napoli fielded all the starters. Inter only three (or four, depending on your point of view). Despite this, the Italian champions struggled in the first half. Then Gagliardini took care of solving his problems, getting expelled. Inzaghi, who almost certainly would have removed him in the interval, will not have been happy. What happened next was a consequence, and Di Lorenzo’s goal — let’s face it — forced applause.

Afternoon rain on Naples flagged on Maradona, which the Neapolitans now call that (not like us Milanese, who insist on San Siro, forgetting Meazza). A cheerful pit. All stadiums, everywhere, bear the fingerprints of cities (that’s why they should be visited, like monuments and churches). But here in Naples two things are added. One, traditional (a reckless fantasy); the other, completely new (the awareness of being strong).

Did Luciano Spalletti think of these things yesterday, whose Sunday incarnation stirred under us, in front of the bench? Really leaves? And where does it go? Why, on these occasions, technicians and companies – not only in Naples – express themselves as sibyls? Spalletti, to stay, asks not to dismantle the team and he wants new players!, someone suggests. De Laurentiis, man of cinema, wants to release a blockbuster every season, he doesn’t believe in remakes!, someone else tells me.

The president, when questioned on the matter, did not answer, but did so with courtesy. Naples – not only that of the grandstand – is grateful to him. The city is too smart not to understand what has been built. And we saw it yesterday too, especially in the final when, having reached a 1-1 draw, the team decided that looking good wasn’t enough.

That’s why the coach’s farewell – if it happens – appears even more bizarre.
Because the very Tuscan Spalletti managed to enter the hearts of the fans while remaining himself, without resorting to the fake Neapolitan style that many foreigners adopt to curry favor with the city. The old Panda repainted for the Scudetto, all right. But the video that appeared yesterday, in which the coach is surrounded by brides-to-be who, laughing, ask “Are you the stripper we’ve been waiting for?” Well, that can’t have been fabricated by the press office.

Of course, Inter wasn’t interested in all of this. But it has failed to impose an alternative narrative of the afternoon. She reacted instead of acting. Unless, in view of Manchester City, he wanted to train to play against decidedly strong Azzurri, who make the ball move well. But then he had to take the field with another formation, and another spirit.