The inevitable Antonio Conte
Napoli sealed the league title with a complete performance
This is football.
And these are just words:
Napoli’s title charge in 2024/25 felt as unlikely as it was exciting. Under Antonio Conte they shook off a slow start (Conte even apologized to the fans after a 0-3 loss in round) and steadily climbed back into contention. By the final day, they faced a simple task: beat relegated Cagliari and hope Inter slipped up. With Inter also winning, the weight of the Scudetto rested on Napoli. The hosts responded with steely confidence. Scott McTominay crashed a stunning overhead kick into the net just before halftime, and Romelu Lukaku beat Yerry Mina to bury a second-minute strike after the break. Those two moments sent the Maradona Stadium into madness and secured Napoli’s second title in three years (fourth overall).
Conte’s influence was visible all over the campaign. After years of chaos (five coaches in a season!), he imposed discipline, hard work and clear roles. Gone were Spalletti’s flashy dribblers – Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia and Kim Min-jae – and in came Conte’s lieutenants. He resurrected veterans like Lukaku (14 goals, 10 assists this season) and molded newcomers McTominay and Gilmour into his midfield generals. By season’s end, Napoli supporters were serenading Conte’s name, the man who apologized to them in August and is now a city hero. Conte became “legendary” – the first coach ever to win Serie A with three different clubs – and this Scudetto finished with one of those iconic Naples fireworks shows.
From the first whistle, Napoli monopolized the ball. The stats: roughly 68% possession, nearly six hundred passes, and an astounding 92% pass accuracy across the 90 minutes. In simple terms, Napoli never let Cagliari breathe, they controlled the ball in the first half and forced Cagliari into a deep, narrow block. Billy Gilmour frequently dropped between the center-backs (Rrahmani and Mathías Olivera) to receive and redistribute, allowing either to step into midfield when needed. This fluid control let Napoli stretch play into the wide channels, especially on the left – and pick apart Cagliari’s shape.
Napoli’s passing was relentlessly progressive. The midfield duo of Gilmour and McTominay shouldered the buildup. Gilmour sat deep as the pivot, threading passes sideways and diagonally, while McTominay surged forward on the half-turn. In the left half-space, McTominay would carry the ball directly, lunging into space, whereas striker Giacomo Raspadori dropped a touch deeper to link play and create decoy runs. McTominay was looking to collect and carry the ball from the half-turn… Raspadori was dropping in a more connective way, making runs into space and dummy movements so the ball could funnel into Lukaku’s feet.
In practice this meant Napoli would cycle possession around the edge of Cagliari’s box, shifting the ball from flank to flank, probing patiently. Leonardo Spinazzola – nominally a fullback – was the year’s surprise winger, pinning back Cagliari’s right side as he charged up the left touchline. His overlapping runs provided genuine width, enabling Raspadori and McTominay to tuck inside and overload dangerous central zones.
By the numbers, Napoli’s buildup was brutal. They played 579 passes (of which 533 found a teammate) at 92% accuracy, constantly moving the ball and controlling tempo. They completed 77 progressive passes (79% success) that broke into the attack, and sent 49 balls into the final third at 88% accuracy. In other words, Napoli didn’t just hold the ball – they advanced it smartly. This constant circulation opened creases: Napoli made 25 possessions reach the penalty area (27% of their possessions) versus only 4 such attacks for Cagliari (5%). The payoff was clear: Napoli racked up an eye-watering 3.46 xG to Cagliari’s 0.36 and fired 18 shots (6 on target) while conceding just 3 total attempts.
Conte’s Napoli had a clear “go-to” pattern: pour attacks down the wings. With David Neres on the bench, Napoli lacked a traditional left-winger, so Spinazzola continually pushed high and wide. McTominay and Raspadori would then adjust accordingly: McTominay would often drift wider to receive and dribble inside, while Raspadori made penetrating runs off the ball or dropped off as a hub. The result was a 22-attack count on the right wing, 10 on the left and 14 through the middle. In simple terms, Spinazzola’s waves down the left were a constant overload; by stretching one flank, he dragged Cagliari defenders out of position. Meanwhile Politano and Di Lorenzo provided width on the opposite side to cause a dilemma all the time.
This created numerous opportunities in the box. Spinazzola, Politano and Di Lorenzo were all looking to cross early. In the six-minute mark, for example, an aggressive overlap saw Spinazzola tee up McTominay on the edge of the area and Raspadori dart free behind, forcing a corner. Across the game, Napoli’s top attackers (Lukaku, McTominay, Anguissa and even center-back Rrahmani) were all ready to pounce in the penalty area. The stats reflect the results: Napoli hit the target with 6 of 18 shots, and Lukaku alone had an expected-goal value of 0.88, Spinazzola 0.87. In short, the left-wing weight of attack (the “danger zones” were 35% from left, 62% from center) consistently endangered Cagliari.
The pinnacle of this buildup came right before halftime. Matteo Politano’s perfectly-timed cross from the right was met by a bicycle-kick volley from McTominay – a goal so spectacular it will be replayed for years. It was the classic Conte moment: precise possession, a clash of rush into the box, and a breathtaking finish. After that strike, Napoli’s dominance was embedded in the scoreline.
Cagliari was sitting deep in a 5-3-2 block, but even that left pockets of space: Napoli’s midfield duo exploited the half-spaces relentlessly. Once Lukaku and McTominay had done their damage, Conte’s in-game shift was subtle: he essentially lifted the foot off the gas pedal. The second-half PPDA jumped to 18.4, reflecting that Napoli, ahead 2-0, conceded possession intentionally to protect the lead. No panic at all – just controlled, disciplined football.
Shape-wise, Conte showed pragmatism. Despite flirting with a 3-4-3 in earlier months, in this game, Napoli’s setup resembled a 4-3-3 in possession when building out. Conte abandoned his automatisms and the back three in possession during the season. Here we saw that in practice: Gilmour acting as a third center-back in buildup while Spinazzola joined the attack. Offensively Conte encouraged dynamic movements instead of rigid patterns. Defensively, though, Napoli remained compact. Yerry Mina and Makoumbou on Cagliari’s side tried to stifle Lukaku’s back-to-goal game, and for stretches they did; Lukaku was often held up or doubled. But Napoli kept probing until the decisive moment came.
Conte’s substitutions were textbook game management. Around the 60th minute, Politano (the assister of the opener) was withdrawn for David Neres, who instantly paired with Lukaku to fashion two more big chances. Later, he turned to his bench to protect the clean sheet. Spinazzola and Raspadori – exhausted from an energetic first hour – were replaced by Pasquale Mazzocchi and Philip Billing. These changes (at about 85’) signaled Conte’s contentment: Mazzocchi shored up the left side, Billing helped lock midfield, and the scoring had been done. It was a masterstroke of timing.
By full-time, Napoli’s tactics had been championed. The xG (3.46 vs 0.36) and shot count (18-3) were heavily lopsided, but perhaps more telling was Napoli’s season-long solidity. Conte’s side conceded just 27 goals in Serie A and dropped very few points at home.