CNN
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“Let’s rewrite history… the dream continues!” Napoli’s Twitter page said.
And no wonder – 18 points clear at the top of the Serie A table, the Partenopei is on his way to his first national championship title since the heady days of Diego Maradona in the late 1980s.
But Luciano Spalletti’s side don’t seem determined to dominate Italian football. Napoli are also mounting the pressure on Europe’s top flight.
On Wednesday, Napoli comfortably beat Eintracht Frankfurt – winners of the Europa League last year – 3-0 in the Champions League, thanks to goals from two of their stalwarts, a brace from Victor Osimhen and a penalty from Piotr Zieliński.
In doing so, he advanced to the quarter-finals with a 5–0 aggregate win over two legs. The other seven teams in Friday’s draw for the last eight are likely hoping not to be paired against Napoli.
No one expected it this season. Even the most hardened Napoli fans could not have predicted that after 26 games of the season, the team would win their first title in over 30 years, banishing years of heartache and failure.
However, thanks to previously unknown Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, a Central European midfield axis – Zieliński and Stanislav Lobotka – and prolific Nigerian striker Osimhen, Napoli have become one of the best European teams playing a exciting attacking football.
Spalletti, 64, is not known for being a serial winner, but his Napoli side’s attacking verve has always overwhelmed the opposition with a majesty befitting champions-in-waiting.
He has only managed to score in three games this season in the league, netting two or more goals on 20 occasions.
Osimhen is Serie A’s top scorer with 19 goals while Kvaratskhelia – playing his first season for Napoli – has scored 11 goals and provided nine assists in the league. The Georgian’s thrilling performances have earned him comparisons to Maradona and the nickname ‘Kvaradona’.
Combined with a stingy defense – led by summer signing Kim Min-jae – which has kept 13 clean sheets at the top of the league, rivals Napoli have been playing catch-up all season.
Napoli’s Champions League campaign began with an emphatic 4-1 win over last year’s runners-up Liverpool in the group opener, scoring four goals in a blistering 47 minutes, with Osimhen also missing a penalty.
Spalletti’s side have gone from strength to strength in the Champions League, recording more impressive wins against Rangers and Ajax both home and away.
Excluding the last group game against Liverpool, which Napoli lost 2-0 after already securing their qualification for the round of 16, the Italian side’s first five matches in the section ended in five wins. , while the Partenopei scored 20 goals and conceded four.
“We want to enjoy the moment and look to the future. It’s a big win,” Osimhen said after beating Frankfurt. “We are rewriting the history of this club. We keep dreaming, we have no limits!
