A season that started with Antonio Conte apologising to Napoli fans after a humbling defeat could end with the Italian coach celebrating another Serie A crown on Friday night.
Going into the campaign finale against Cagliari at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Napoli know that victory will secure the club's fourth Scudetto – no matter what closest rivals Inter Milan do in their match away to Como.
Out of Europe's 'Big Five' leagues, only Serie A's title tussle will go down to the wire, with Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain already celebrating their respective domestic victories.
While the rest of the Italian top-flight's final-day schedule takes place across Saturday and Sunday, the two title-deciding games have been moved to Friday evening, kicking-off simultaneously at 10.45pm (UAE).
Conte's men enjoy a one-point advantage over Uefa Champions League finalists Inter with both teams having drawn their penultimate matches on Sunday – against Parma (0-0) and Lazio (2-2), respectively.
Those pressure cooker clashes ended with both Conte and his Inter counterpart Simone Inzaghi being shown red cards, which means neither will be in the dugout on Friday.
After the Parma match, a drained Conte admitted his first season in charge at Napoli had been the “most difficult” of his career.
“I gave everything, I went beyond my limits,” said the former Juventus, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur manager. “I also know I am exhausted, I’m just about reaching the end of this season.
“Napoli is wonderful for the passion and enthusiasm, but it also brings with it demands and expectations that are often higher than the realistic capabilities.”
Those pressures were clear from Conte's first game when his side fell to a 3-0 humbling against a Verona side that could yet be relegated from the top-flight if results do not go their way.
“We melted like snow in the sun,” said Conte after the match on August 10. “We should apologise to the Neapolitan supporters, who follow us with such passion.
“I'm the coach and it's my responsibility, so I apologise. It was a debacle and it's my fault.”
As it turned out, Napoli's form quickly picked up and they would soon surge to the top of the table, not tasting defeat again until losing at home to Atalanta in November – the second of only four Serie A losses all season.
Hard to beat, tough to breach, Napoli's defence – marshalled by captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo at right-back, alongside ever-present Kosovan centre-half Amir Rrahmani – has conceded just 27 goals in 37 games, six better than the next meanest backline.
In midfield, Scott McTominay has been a revelation since his summer move from Manchester United, contributing an impressive 11 league goals with the Scot establishing himself as a cult hero with supporters.
“He never had a primary role at Man United, while here we gave him one,” said Conte of the 28-year-old in February. “He's “worked hard and now he's a complete player.”
Up front has been more problematic. Victor Osimhen is in prolific form, scoring 36 goals in 40 games across all competitions, sadly for Napoli, this has been while out on a season-long loan at Turkish club Galatasaray.
Potential moves last summer to Chelsea and Al Ahly failed to materialise and one of Europe's most in-demand strikers had to settle for a temporary switch to the Super Lig, with his relationship with Napoli bosses seemingly broken beyond repair.
Conte turned to his old attacker at Inter, Romelu Lukaku, for goals, and the Belgian is his club's top-scorer with 13, albeit some way short of the league leading 25 notched by Atalanta's Mateo Retegui.
In January, star forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia left to join Inter's Champions League final opponents Paris Saint-Germain, much to Conte's frustration.
“I am disappointed, it was a bolt from the blue,” Conte admitted after the 23-year-old Georgian requested a transfer. “We are losing an important player.”
Conte falling out with club bosses has been a characteristic of his managerial career, although this usually starts in his second season at a club. Napoli owners have felt his wrath ahead of schedule.
“Everyone who hires me knows that I come with certain expectations,” he said last month, frustrated at how the club's transfer strategy had left his squad short of depth in the title chase.
“I can be a guarantor for a lot of things, but I am not stupid if I don’t see the resources necessary to do this.”
But despite the problems, Conte is now tantalisingly close to what would be his fifth Scudetto as a coach after three with Juventus and one at Inter.
“We still have to take that final step. It will be taken on our home turf, with the support of our fans,” said the 55-year-old.
“We have been at the top for a long time, despite a season full of difficulties, but we never complained, we kept going and we are right there to achieve something unthinkable and historic for Napoli.”
Standing in their way will be Conte and Lukaku's old club Inter, who will take on Ligue 1 champions PSG in the Champions League final on May 31.
Inzaghi's reigning champions know that they will have to better Napoli's result on Friday to retain the title but the Nerazzurri have the tougher of the fixtures.
Former Spain, Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas has enjoyed an impressive first full season charge of Como, guiding the club to a 10th place finish and having gone eight matches unbeaten.
“Unfortunately, the Scudetto is no longer in our hands, but we need to keep playing with focus,” said Inzhagi after the recent win at Torino.
“People say Inter have a small squad but we don’t have the budget of PSG, Manchester City or Bayern Munich, so we need to be better in terms of organisation. With this heart, we can fight it out with everyone.”
