‘It will be strange to follow Diego Maradona’ - Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo relishing first Serie A title in 33 years

• Napoli within touching distance of history
• Elimination from the UCL is their fuel
• The feeling of lifting the Scudetto

WHAT HAPPENED? Napoli are in for a historic season and have one hand on the Scudetto following their 1-0 win against Juventus this weekend. The Partenopei have a 17 point lead over second placed Lazio with seven games to go and could mathematically win the title with wins in their next games. Giovanni Di Lorenzo, the Napoli captain, spoke to DAZN about the emotions the players are going through ahead of a historic few weeks.

WHAT THEY SAID: “It makes me a little strange to think about being the captain of Napoli after Maradona raising the Scudetto, it will be incredible. I, like all my teammates, are enjoying these victories after a positive path since the beginning of the year,” said Di Lorenzo about the possibility of being the Napoli captain to lift the Scudetto after Maradona.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Napoli have played some scintillating football this season and Luciano Spalletti has used the squad very well.

“This year the quality of the subs has been a constant, in every game they have given us a big hand. With the five changes you can change the game and those who come in make a really incredible contribution. It’s a victory that brings us closer to our goal, it’s a journey that started some time ago and now we are savouring it,” said Di Lorenzo on the important role the bench has played in the campaign.

The captain then went on to discuss their disappointment of being knocked out of the Champions League against Milan last week, and how they picked themselves up.

“We wanted to go through an important competition. We played it on a level playing field with Milan, we are sorry to have gone out that way but we came out with our heads held high. After that game we immediately started preparing for this one, great teams do that, they look at what they have to do and not what happened," said Di Lorenzo.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Napoli are up against Salernitana in their next game in Serie A before an away trip to Udinese where they could mathematically win the title. They will then face Fiorentina at home on May 7.