The series A 2024-2025 ends on a stunning Mano-a-mano between the Inter of Simone Inzaghi and the Napoli of Antonio Conte, who are only separated by a point (78 for Naples, 77 for Inter) two days before the term. Sunday, May 18, the Nerazzurri receive Lazio at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium for their last home game – a real trap: the Biancocelesti, currently 5th, still play a place in the Champions League and have already hung Juventus and AC Milan this season. Inter will count on the majority of its executives, but must manage the fatigue accumulated by a European spring which brought it to the final of C1, at a time when the Argentinian scorer is physically affected.
Napoli can complete the case this weekend: a victory at the Stadio Ennio Tardini combined with an inter-managed setback would offer a third Scudetto, the first since 2023. But Parma, which is 16th and still threatened, struggles for its survival and relies on an offensive sector catching around Dennis Man, Ange-Yoan Bonny and Valentin Mihăil If the Partenopei come out unscathed, they will still have to negotiate a final appointment at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium against Cagliari. In a climate of maximum tension, the smallest details will count: the management of emotions, the depth of bench, and even the possibility of a support match that the Lega has already reserved for June 1 in Rome in the event of perfect equality. This end of the season therefore promises two incandescent evenings, where every minute can tip a scudetto that a whole country is watching, breathless, deciding.
An already decisive poster!
At a press conference, Antonio Conte recognized the importance of such a match as the end of the season approaches: “This is not a normal match because we arrive at the end of the season and we are lucky to play an important match. Everyone is coming to the end, but you have to see how. It is not a normal end of the season, but in the name of a goal that we did not have in mind at the start. We brought Naples back to the Champions League taking a place for teams that had attended us at least 15 points last year. We achieved this goal, then we created problems. Now we have to understand how much we want to create problems to the end. It is a pressure and a stress that we deserve. Only those who have never played for nothing can think that there is no emotional and passionate involvement. Concern? I wouldn't say that. There is the unknown. We prepare everything in the best possible way, but there is also the ground and the imponderable of the situation, as was the case with the Genoa».
If the Inter will face an opponent on more tough paper, Antonio Conte does not want to underestimate a team of Parma motivated in his mission for maintenance: “The traps are in the ranking. They are fighting for their survival. When we fight for a goal, we give ourselves body and soul. We will find a combative opponent who will seek a result and the maintenance. The guys know that they play for a different goal from that of the big clubs. For a city like Naples, the Scudetto is historic. Two years ago, we had not won it for thirty years in Naples. Those who are used to these situations live them more serenely, those who do not live them are often more tense and the atmosphere becomes very anxious. You will have to try to dose these pressures. Guys know what a scudetto means to Naples, me first. It is an important event. Winning here is to stay in the history of the city».
While his first season in Naples is coming to an end, the Italian coach is aware of the weight he has on his shoulders in such a passionate city, rocked by the club's results: “I feel a huge responsibility, maybe even too much. I feel like I have a huge weight on my shoulders. I think I can manage these situations, but I cannot deny that it is a huge weight, that we may not feel elsewhere, given the habit of winning. We were asked for a beautiful cake, we prepared it and offered it by returning to the Champions League four days from the end, a vital objective for the club. We have strengthened the workforce and filled the stadium, creating great enthusiasm around the team. We must now put the icing on the cake. A icing that would mark history and that would leave our memory forever in Naples. We want to do something extraordinary, even if we have already done a lot for the club and for the city. We must have the ambition to leave our memory in Naples». And when the dust will fall back on the stages of Italy, there will be from this cavalcade only the warm breath of a spring where two cities have dreamed stronger than the others.
