Napoli raring to party as title triumph nears

Naples is gearing up to celebrate this weekend as Napoli prepare to face their regional rivals Salernitana, with the possibility of securing their first Serie A title since the era of Diego Maradona with just one more win.

In the stadium named after their beloved Argentine icon, a multitude of eager fans will gather with the hope of witnessing their team become champions of Italy, thereby ending a 33-year-long wait for Napoli to be declared the best team in the country.

In order to crown an outstanding season that has surprised fans and exceeded pre-season expectations, Luciano Spalletti's team must defeat Salernitana and rely on Lazio not winning against Inter Milan, as they currently hold a 17-point lead with only seven games left to play.

During the summer, Napoli was a club in chaos with their supporters in a state of rebellion against owner Aurelio De Laurentiis. This was due to their failure to maintain their position in the title race from the previous season and their decision to sell cherished players such as Kalidou Koulibaly.

Skeptical about new arrivals and their team's chances, only a few thousand fans bought season tickets before the start of the campaign and Spalletti was ordered to "wake up" by one angry supporter at Napoli's pre-season training retreat.

Nine months later and summer signings Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Kim Min-jae are lynchpins of a thrilling team who were champions-elect by mid-February and bewitched Europe with a run to the Champions League quarter-finals.

It was Giacomo Raspadori, signed after the season started, who gave Napoli their first match point with his last-gasp winner at Juventus on Sunday night.

That 1-0 win in Turin sparked wild celebrations among supporters, thousands of whom waited for the team at Naples airport.

Afterwards a phalanx of moped-riding fans, some packed three to a scooter and almost none wearing helmets, followed the team bus back into the city to a tune of blaring police sirens and honking horns.

Those supporters will know whether Napoli have a shot at winning the league this year by the time they take to the Stadio Maradona field as the match with Salernitana was pushed back to Sunday, after Lazio's clash at Inter, for public order reasons.

That match at the San Siro is itself a huge fixture in the race for the Champions League, as defeat on Sunday has left Juve vulnerable to a clutch of teams behind them.

Inter are sixth, five points behind third-placed Juve who were knocked out of the Italian Cup by the Milan giants on Wednesday and travel to Bologna on a dismal run of three straight league losses.

Meanwhile Roma host AC Milan hoping to bounce back from their defeat at Atalanta on Monday which knocked them out of the top four on goal difference.

Jose Mourinho's team and fourth-placed Milan lead Inter by just two points ahead of the clash at the Stadio Olimpico which could have a big say in who, apart from Napoli, finally snatches a spot in the Champions League.