Napoli end 33-year wait for Serie A title after draw at Udinese

A Napoli fan cannot hide his emotion at the Largo Maradona in the Quartieri Spagnoli district of Naples following his team's Scudetto triumph.

Napoli have been crowned champions of Italy for the first time in 33 years following a 1-1 draw at Udinese.

I Partenopei needed just a point from the match at the Dacia Arena in Udine to claim the Serie A title and 52-minute goal from Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen ensured a share of the spoils after Udinese had taken an early lead through Sandi Lovric.

Napoli, under the guidance of experienced head coach Luciano Spalletti, have been runaway leaders in Italy since the beginning of the season, inspired by 21 goals from Osimhen and some scintillating performances from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the Georgian 22-year-old who Scotland will come up against this summer in the Euro 2024 qualifiers. They have landed the title with five matches to spare.

More than 11,000 fans made the long journey from Naples to north-eastern Italy to watch their team claim the Scudetto in person, while tens of thousands of supporters partied back home to mark the historic occasion.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis said in the immediate aftermath: “Our project will not stop here — it’s just the beginning. We want to win again, and again, and again. And then there’s the Champions League.”

Napoli were in Rangers’ Champions League group earlier in the season, winning at home and at Ibrox to top a section that included Ajax and Liverpool before exiting the tournament at the quarter-final stage.