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Napoli have now officially won the 2024-25 Serie A title at the end of an exciting and eventful end of the season, as the Azzurri were able to stay ahead of Inter despite two draws against Genoa and Parma in the closing weeks of the season. Inter dropped points down the stretch as well with a disappointing run that prevented the side coached by Simone Inzaghi from winning back-to-back Scudetto titles.

Let's take a look on how Antonio Conte's team were able to win their fourth Serie A title, and their second one after the Diego Armando Maradona era. Napoli have won the 2024-25 Serie A Scudetto, after the ones in 1986-87, 1989-90 and the one won under manager Luciano Spalletti during the 2022-23 season. After the disappointing 2023-24 season when Napoli appointed three different coaches but then ended up out of the European tournaments, club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis decided to call Antonio Conte to bring back the club to the glory. 

It didn't take long for Conte to get things back on track, but winning the Scudetto was probably beyond his best expectations. First of all, we need to say that a lot of this success also come from Inter's disappointing performances, as the Nerazzurri seemed to not be able to handle both the Serie A and the Champions League, though considering Inzaghi's team will play PSG in the final on May 31 at the Allianz Arena, the burden of the extra tournament could still pay major dividends. If Inter could have perform a bit better, like in their draw against Lazio in week 37, we could have a totally different scenario right now. But Napoli deserve to be the winners, as they were always close to their Serie A rivals, and took advantage of Inter's results when they needed to. Let's take a closer look on how Napoli won the 2024-25 Serie A title.

Why this is different from 2023

Despite the success, the 2024-25 Serie A title is very different from the one won by Spalletti's team two years ago, and has been welcomed differently from that one by the same fans. The 2023 title was the first one in more than 30 years, the first one after the Diego Armando Maradona era that shaped the club's reputation around the world and also arrived quiet surprisingly considering Napoli decided to sell key players like Kalidou Koulibaly and let club legends Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne leave as free agents. In the same summer session, the Azzurri signed Korean defender Min-Jae Kim and most notably Georgian talent Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who instantly became the best signing of the summer. Napoli secured the Scudetto two seasons ago with a commanding 16-point lead over Lazio, showcasing unrivaled dominance throughout the Serie A campaign. 

This season, however, the title race was fiercely contested, with Napoli and Inter battling neck-and-neck until the final matchday, a stark contrast to Napoli's earlier supremacy. On top of that, the club sold the same Kvaratskhelia to PSG for around $75 million in the winter transfer window, and didn't immediately replace him as they were going to wait until the summer 2025. It was a decision that left many doubtful about the impact it could have on their race for the title. Despite that, they managed to win the Scudetto. In terms of management, it is also a different club. The mastermind behind the recent success of Napoli, club director Cristiano Giuntoli, left Napoli with Spalletti after winning the 2023 Serie A title and joined Juventus. It's very possible Conte could reunite with him in the future who is set to discuss his future with Napoli and can possibly make a comeback at his former and beloved club. 

Antonio Conte's impact

Let's now talk about Conte. Once again, he proved to be one of the best managers around the world, as he was able to win the Serie A title with a third different team, after winning three Serie A titles with Juventus from 2012 to 2014 and with Inter during the 2020-21 season. Only Fabio Capello has done something similar as he won with AC Milan, AS Roma and Juventus, even if the Bianconeri Serie A titles in 2005 and 2006 were later revoked due to the Calciopoli scandal. For this reason, Conte became the first manager in the history of the Serie A to officially win at least one Scudetto with three different teams. More than the tactical improvements he brought immediately, Conte was able to create that winning mentality he desperately looks for everywhere he goes. Where he was able to win, there was no trophy without that winning obsession in the team. On multiple occasions, Conte coached a team that was in a bad moment in its history like Juventus, Chelsea or Inter, for example. His ability to restore a winning mentality in the team also became his biggest problem, as he was less often considered for a job when a top European club needed a manager, not specifically after a bad season. This is why Juventus are currently looking to appoint him once again, after what he has done at the club from 2011 to 2014 when he started what turned out to become the most successful cycle in the history of the Italian club. 

The signing of the season 

When Conte arrived, he had to deal with a big issue at the club: Napoli striker Victor Osimhen decided to leave the Italian side during the summer 2024 and the club had to find a solution to let him go, but they couldn't. Conte had to wait some time to see his former striker Romelu Lukaku joining Napoli, as they were hoping to sell Osimhen first. When Lukaku joined Napoli, Osimhen was still on the roster and the club decided to loan him out only after the summer transfer deadline day, when Galatasaray signed him on loan for the 2024-25 season. With the arrival of Conte, many could expect the performances of Lukaku, who also did well with the Italian manager at Inter, but it turned out the best signing of the season was former Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay. The Scottish player joined Napoli from the English giants for around $30 million, and quickly showed why Conte desperately wanted the club to sign him. McTominay became a central player under Conte, providing not only for his versatility and tactical utility as offensive midfielder, but also has emerged as a prolific scorer making him the joint-top-scoring midfielder in the league alongside AC Milan's Christian Pulisic. It was fitting then that it was McTominay who scored the goal that would ultimately secure the title for Napoli as they secured their second title in three years. If we have to pick one player this season for Napoli, that's him.