Napoli can clinch title in its stadium named after Maradona
Napoli fans wave a flag portraying soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona during the Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Hellas Verona, at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, Saturday, April 15, 2023. It's a celebration more than 30 years in the making, and historically superstitious Napoli fans are already painting the city blue in anticipation of the team's first Italian league title since the days when Diego Maradona played for the club. Credit: AP/Alessandro Garofalo
MILAN — Napoli could get the chance to clinch its first Serie A title since Diego Maradona's playing days in front of its fans this weekend at the stadium now named after the club’s most emblematic player.
The Italian league announced Friday that Napoli’s match against regional rival Salernitana originally scheduled for Saturday will now be played on Sunday at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT). That means that if second-place Lazio doesn’t win at Inter Milan earlier Sunday, Napoli would seal the “scudetto” with six rounds to spare if it wins at home.
The scheduling move was made following a request by authorities in Naples in order to maintain public safety in the city, by concentrating the initial celebrations inside the stadium in case of the title.
Maradona led Napoli to its only Serie A trophies in 1987 and 1990 in what was previously known as the Stadio San Paolo. The stadium was renamed for him when he died 2 ½ years ago.
Napoli enters the weekend 17 points ahead of Lazio.
Also, Napoli’s next game at Udinese was moved from Tuesday to Thursday.
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