Inter Trip, Now Napoli Are Coming For The Scudetto

Inter Trip, Now Napoli Are Coming For The Scudetto

Chandler Milligan

Itโ€™s been a two-horse race since the first kick of the 2024/25 Serie A season.

No more than four points have separated Inter and Napoli at any point as the two most recent Scudetto winners trade top spot back and forth, breathing heavily down each other’s necks in the tussle.

With five games remaining to find a champion, both Napoli and Internazionale rest equal on 71 points.

They share the same wins, losses, and draws, but Inter still stand on top with their staggering goal difference.

Under Simone Inzaghiโ€™s leadership, Inter are currently dreaming of reliving history by repeating their 2010 treble-winning success.

A 2-2 midweek draw at the San Siro saw the Nerazzurri progress to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals with a 4-3 aggregate victory over soon-to-be Bundesliga Champions, Bayern Munich.

They will face league leaders and UCL favourites FC Barcelona for a place in the UCL Final.

As it was written in 2010.

A Coppa Italia second-leg semi-final clash against AC Milan will determine their fate this week, with both sides locked in a 1-1 draw after the first leg.

For Simone Inzaghiโ€™s men, who are fighting to retain their Serie A title, the final run-in of the 2024/25 campaign looks gruelling to say the least.

Meanwhile, Antonio Conteโ€™s Napoli only has the Serie A to focus on as they look to capitalise on Interโ€™s heavy calendar.

Can they reclaim the title they surrendered last year?

In the 2022/23 season, Napoli surged to their third-ever Serie A title and their first league title since the 1989/90 season, when the late, legendary Diego Maradona led them to paradise.

With 90 points accrued over their title-winning season, Napoli also made it to the UEFA Champions League quarter-final stage for the first time in their history.

Luciano Spalletti manned the touchline while Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia led Napoliโ€™s free-firing attack, and it looked like the beginning of a new era at Gli Azzurri.

But the following season did not go as planned.

After bringing the Serie A title home to Naples, Luciano Spalletti stepped down from his role as a hero, and Rudi Garcia was hired to continue the project.

They finished 10th in the league and had three managers throughout the season before Antonio Conte was brought in ahead of the current campaign.

Inter Milan, who have thrived under Simone Inzaghi since Antonio Conteโ€™s departure in 2021, reclaimed the Scudetto with a dominant campaign.

They won 94 points, 19 more than runners-up AC Milan, and have cemented themselves as one of the strongest sides in Europe across the last four years.

Now, with both sides at their best, we have five games to decide a champion.

Ten games into the season, Napoli sat at the summit with a four-point lead.

Fifteen games and a lone point separated them in second and third. Inter with a game in hand.

After Round 20, Napoli were four points ahead once more, but their rivals had two games in hand.

Despite that, Napoli remained at the top after 25 games, with a two-point lead.

A shock defeat to Como saw the league leaders waver after a winless February, and Inter Milan seized control for the first time since Round 3.

Napoli recovered a late goal to draw 1-1 against Inter at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium as they fought to take back top spot.

A statement away win against third-place Atalanta saw Inter extend their lead to four points after Napoli were held to a goalless draw against Venezia the day before.

They entered Round 30 with a four-point gap.

Inter were looking over their shoulders while also managing their UCL and Coppa Italia knockout games, and Napoli were left chasing their tails and hoping they would trip.

And finally, they did.

After Scott McTominayโ€™s winner against Monza, Inter again had to respond with a win to keep their slender lead intact.

The match looked set to end goalless until a stunning 94th-minute overhead scissor-kick from Riccardo Orsolini gave Bologna all three points as they continue their battle for a place in the UCL.

With five games remaining, we might be witnessing one of the greatest title races in recent history.

Inseparable but for goal difference, Interโ€™s lead to lose, and Napoli should back themselves to complete the comeback.

On paper, many would pen Inter Milan as the better side. Especially since theyโ€™re in the UCL semi-finals.

But, the pressure and demand of their heavy calendar might be the very thing that sees them fall apart.

Inter Milan definitely have the more difficult Serie A roster remaining.

They will host a resurgent Roma side competing for a UCL position, and are undefeated in the league since December.

Then they face mid-table sides Hellas Verona at home and Torino on the road, before another complicated clash at home against a Lazio side also vying for a place in the UCL next season.

Their final game of the season, and most likely the day this title will be decided, is away against Cesc Fabregasโ€™s Como.

Antonio Conteโ€™s men, who arenโ€™t burdened by any other competitions, can focus their attention on 10th-place Torino, 12th-place Genoa, 15th-place Cagliari, 16th-place Parma, and 17th-place Lecce.

Three of those games are at home for Napoli, but certainly wonโ€™t be easy as the latter three sides battle to avoid relegation.

Nonetheless, Napoli should expect to reap all 15 points, while Inter would certainly not be blamed if they failed to win all five of their matches.

Extraordinarily, should both sides somehow finish the campaign equal on points, itโ€™s not their head-to-head record (which is two draws, anyway) that would divide them, nor their goal difference (which Inter currently dominate).

No, a new rule introduced ahead of the 2022/23 season declares that if two teams are level at the end of the season, they will compete in a play-off game (essentially, a final) to determine the champion.

If that game were level after 90 minutes, which the previous two encounters between Inter Milan and Napoli have been, then the match would proceed directly to a penalty shootout.

Who would win if they faced off for a third time this season?

Currently, their head-to-head record is perfectly balanced. They share 12 wins, 12 draws, and 12 losses.

While Napoli havenโ€™t defeated Inter in over two years, they would enter this playoff with more rest and more time to prepare.

In the most recent 1-1 draw against Inter, they dominated at home with more than triple the shots, 62% possession, and two big chances created.

While they conceded from a free kick, their defence remained solid, winning 11 tackles, making three blocks, and requiring zero saves from Alex Meret, who conceded from the only shot on target.

If they were to face off again, Napoli would have the edge in this clash, but they should get the job done inside their next five games.