It was a night of celebrations for Napoli on Sunday, with the team playing in front of the home fans for the first time since being crowned champions of Italy earlier in the week. After beating Fiorentina 1-0 in the match, it was time to revel in this year’s success as the colours of the Italian tricolour lit up the sky, honouring this historic moment.
It was Italian film director Paolo Sorrentino who took to the stage to introduce club president Aurelio De Laurentiis, the two sharing in their love of cinema and the Azzurri.
“This team are more than The Great Beauty,” announced De Laurentiis, making reference to Sorrentino’s film La Grande Bellezza. “This Scudetto should be dedicated to all the stands in the stadium and all Napoli fans around the world.
“I wanted to dedicate the Champions League to you this year too, but we’ll try again next year.”
The president went on to introduce the board: vice president Edoardo De Laurentiis, CEO Andrea Chiavelli and Sporting Director Cristiano Giuntoli.
They all expressed their joy at the achievement, with Chiavelli stating: “It’s a wonderful feeling, a unique and priceless emotion that we’ve dreamed of for years. It proves that if you believe in the work that you do, your dreams can come true.”
It was over to Giuntoli next. “Tonight, I want to thank Andrea Chiavelli and president De Laurentiis, who called me up eight years ago and changed my life. I’ll always be grateful to Aurelio because he has treated me as part of his family, along with Edoardo, Luigi and Valentina. I’d like to take a moment to remember my dad, who’s no longer with us.
“I want to let Napoli fans know that there is no need to worry about the future because with Aurelio De Laurentiis at the helm, the future will always be bright.”
It was a hugely emotional moment for Edoardo De Laurentiis too. “Someone told me years ago that we would win the Scudetto. That person was Cristiano Giuntoli. We travelled up and down Italy, putting great passion into what we were doing. Now we’ve won it, both for ourselves and for the people of Naples. Forza Napoli!”
It was then time to get the party started and to see the fans enjoy what the team had brought them. Luciano Spalletti had some heartfelt sentiments to share.
“If you managed to get me to win the Scudetto too, it means that Naples truly is the city of miracles. If there were a way to transform happiness and love into electrical energy, we could illuminate all the stadiums in Italy. Thank you, Napoli, thank you to the fans. You’ve been the stars in this fantastic adventure. I love you so much.”
It was a night of champions and as fireworks lit up the sky to the beat of We are the Champions, everyone could reflect on the significance of this historic achievement, coming 33 years after the previous occasion. It’s nights like this that make all that hard work worth it.
