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LIVE – Three days to King Charles’ coronation in England, will Nigeria’s Osimhen and teammates at Napoli be crowned tonight in Italy?

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Scudetto, there is Udinese-Napoli: very hot atmosphere at Maradona, over 12 thousand Neapolitans in Udine

Napoli is Champion of Italy. Third Scudetto in the history of the Azzurri that thanks to the 1-1 of the Dacia Arena arithmetically conquer the title with 5 days in advance.

22:37 – ENDS HERE!!!

90′ – The referee grants 3 minutes of recovery.

85′ – Second substitution for Napoli: Lozano takes Kvaratskhelia’s place.

81′ – Ehizibue can’t do it: Ebosele enters in his place. Samardzic also leaves, replaced by Thauvin.

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80′ – Physical problem for Ehizibue who collapses to the ground: game stopped, the Juventus medical staff on the pitch.

78′ – Another substitution at Udinese: the author of the goal Lovric comes out and Arslan enters.

73′ – Udinese substitution: Udogie comes out, Zeegelaar in his place.

71′ – ZIELINSKI Spooned in the area by Elmas for the Pole, who kicks on the fly but finds a great reflex of Silvestri.

68′ – On the continuation of the ball is Osimhen to put the ball inside, but after a foul: game already stopped.

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67′ – Kvaratskhelia dances on the ball on the left-handed lane. On his cross by a whisker Elmas misses the impact with the ball.

63′ – First change for Napoli: Zielinski comes on in place of Ndombele.

60′ – Becao’s attempt from outside after a nice combination with Lovric: right-footed angled, but Meret is well placed and blocks.

56′ – Napoli fans go crazy at the Dacia Arena. Napoli now in possession of the ball and looking for the second goal.

63′ – First change for Napoli: Zielinski comes on in place of Ndombele.

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60′ – Becao’s attempt from outside after a nice combination with Lovric: right-footed angled, but Meret is well placed and blocks.

56′ – Napoli fans go crazy at the Dacia Arena. Napoli now in possession of the ball and looking for the second goal.

60′ – Becao’s attempt from outside after a nice combination with Lovric: right-footed angled, but Meret is well placed and blocks.

56′ – Napoli fans go crazy at the Dacia Arena. Napoli now in possession of the ball and looking for the second goal.

52′ – GOOOOOOL DEL NAPOLIIIIII!!!!! Anguissa receives in the box, does not kick and supports Kvaratskhelia. Round shot, Silvestri rejects. On the retort, however, there is Osimhen, who places with his right and signs the 1-1!

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51′ – Start of the second half in line with what we saw in the first half: Udinese well organized, Napoli struggles to find spaces.

47′ – No change at half-time: on the pitch the same twenty-two of the first half

The first fraction of the Dacia Arena closes on the score of 1-0. So far, Lovric’s goal in the 13th minute was decided. Teams in the locker room.

21:32 – HALF ENDS

46′ – Kvaratskhelia comes in for Olivera, who first strikes: Lovric makes good guard.

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45′ – The referee awards one minute of recovery.

44′ – Udinese continue to attack and Napoli struggles to find the right synchronisms. Not a great first half for the Azzurri.

42′ – Good track for Anguissa, who at the time of the cross, however, completely smoothes the ball.

37′ – On the development of a corner for Udinese, Bijol dunks a header but the ball rises over the crossbar.

35′ – Tempers are ignited on the pitch. Kvaratskhelia gasps to the left but is stretched out. For Abyss everything is regular, protests from the bench.

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32′ – OSIMHEN! Cross from Di Lorenzo’s three-quarters to look for the Nigerian who detaches on Bijol and impacts with a header: the ball comes out of a breath to the left of Silvestri.

30′ – LOVRIC! Pereyra recovers the ball and serves Lovric who kicks from outside: Meret is alert and rejects.

28′ – Napoli struggles to kick on goal, Udinese always arrives first on the second balls.

24′ – OSIMHEN! On the developments of a set piece Osimhen anticipates everyone in the area: angled corner, Silvestri deflects into the corner. However, the flag is raised, offside of the Nigerian.

22′ – Kvaratskhelia ends up on the ground in the box after a clash with Becao. For the referee everything is regular.

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9′ – Napoli cannot find spaces at this stage. Very good Udinese in man-on-man duels.

16′ – Olivera’s central serpentine goes past Ehizibue who spreads it: foul and yellow.

13′ – UDINESE SCORES! Udogie supports in the box for Lovric who, guiltily left alone by the Napoli defense, kicks a precise right that slips into the second post.

11′ – Elmas gives the ball to Udinese outside the box. Walace recovers high and kicks: Rrahmani makes wall.

8′ – On the developments of the corner Di Lorenzo takes the lead, no problem for Silvestri who blocks.

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7′ – Di Lorenzo scoops in the box for Ndombele, Perez touches the ball and puts it in the corner.

6′ – The script is clear: Napoli manages the ball possession, Udinese is well closed.

2′ – Immediately clash between Kvaratskhelia and Becao. The Georgian remains on the ground, but it is nothing serious.

20:45 – GO! START THE MATCH

20:42 PM – The teams are on the field: there is very little left to the kick-off.

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20:37 – Cristiano Giuntoli, sporting director of Napoli, before the match with Udinese spoke to the microphone of DAZN: “It’s a very delicate and beautiful moment, there is one last centimeter to do and you have to be concentrated. After so many years, having the gratitude of the Neapolitan public is a source of great pride and satisfaction”.

Does Spalletti consider him so much in love that he has no doubts about staying? “We didn’t talk about it, I know he’s in love with the city, the team, the people and he gave his all in this project. Then we’ll see.”

20:34 – Pierpaolo Marino, director of the technical area of Udinese, before the match with Napoli spoke to the microphone of DAZN: “I feel the one who sowed, from my idea with the help of the Coppola family Castel Volturno was born, in a few months. I sowed from scratch, in three years we went to Da Luz to play for Benfica. It is as if it were a grandson that you find, the base was built solid. I said that I had gone to sow in the desert and today, thanks to the path taken by De Laurentiis and all the technical collaborators who succeeded me, after 2009, the year of my release, now the sowing is harvested”.

Who is Napoli’s key player? “Kvaratskhelia at the start of the season gave that leap in quality, imagination, technique that Maradona needed. It is what enhances the DNA of the Neapolitan public”

Has De Laurentiis already asked you about Samardzic?” They are very attentive to our players, we have a very good relationship. There is Giuntoli who has an eye of great professionalism, he is a talent hunter and here there are. Now the market has not yet begun, but a couple of our players are being watched.”

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20:24 – Amir Rrahmani, Napoli defender, before the match with Udinese spoke to DAZN: “We saw Lazio-Sassuolo together, but we know we keep the situation in hand and now we want to close it tonight because there is a whole people waiting. We will see a Napoli that wants to win the Scudetto, we would be very happy even with a draw.”

20:23 – Walace, Udinese midfielder, speaks to DAZN before the match against Napoli that could deliver the Scudetto to the latter: “We know that Napoli is here to win, but we play at home in front of our fans and we have our motivation to do well today”.

How did you prepare for the match?
“With a high attitude from the beginning and a great sense of belonging. They are strong but we are not far behind.”

20:09 – There will not be the eventual crowd bath in the city for the Napoli players returning from Udine, whether the Scudetto arrives tonight or not. Sky informs that the blue program provides for overnight stays in the Friulian capital, with the team that will return to the city tomorrow although at the moment it is not clear in which airport it will land.

20:00 – Creepy atmosphere at Maradona for the streaming broadcast of Udinese-Napoli that could be worth the Scudetto to the Azzurri. Stadium already almost full, transformed into a real disco by the deejay Decibel Bellini. It looks like a pre-match of a Champions League final, the stadium is missing only the team that will play at 20.45 at the Dacia Arena.

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19:37 PM – The formations of Udinese-Napoli are official, a match valid for the 33rd day and which could deliver the arithmetic Scudetto to the Azzurri. Luciano Spalletti made two changes from the 1-1 home draw against Salernitana: Ndombele replaced Zielinski and Elmas replaced Lozano. For the rest all confirmed. Meret in goal, Di Lorenzo and Olivera on the wings with Rrahmani and Kim in the centre of defence. Midfield with Lobotka, Anguissa and Ndombele, while in attack the trident formed by Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia and Elmas.

UDINESE (3-5-1-1): Silvestri; Becao, Bijol, Perez; Ehizibue, Samardzic, Walace, Lovric, Udogie; Pereyra; Nestorovski. All. Sottil.

NAPLES (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Kim, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, Ndombele; Elmas, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia. All. Spalletti

18:55 p.m. – The expectation is growing in Udine for the match between Udinese and Napoli scheduled at 20.45, which could give the Scudetto to the Neapolitans. Long queues at the entrance of the guest sector of the Dacia Arena, with some fans already wearing the shirt of Italian champions.

18:31 PM – The atmosphere is already warm outside the Diego Armando Maradona stadium, where tonight there will be over fifty thousand watching the giant screens Udinese-Napoli. The event set up by the blue club for the occasion has been sold out and the queues at the turnstiles are already very long, open from 18 pm, obviously with the blue to dominate.

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18:00 – Aurelio De Laurentiis is back in Naples. The president has decided to see Udinese-Napoli from Maradona, along with the five thousand and more who will populate him. In these hours he landed in the city and was sighted, as reported by Rai News, at the central station in the afternoon.

17.00pm – Latest training directly from Sky Sports in view of the match that tonight could deliver the Scudetto to Napoli. Luciano Spalletti in Udine will play with the best possible formation. Lozano favoured over Elmas who could have a chance in midfield in place of Zielinski. Trident completed by Osimhen and Kvara.

PROBABLE LINEUPS
Udinese (3-5-2): Silvestri; Becao, Bijol, Perez; Ehizibue, Samardzic, Walace, Lovric, Udogie; Nestorovski, Pereyra

Napoli (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Kim, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, Zielinski; Lozano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia

Sold out at Maradona. Tickets are sold out to attend tonight’s special event with the giant screens positioned on the edge of the playing perimeter that will broadcast the match in Udine. The turnstiles of the Maradona Stadium will open at 18 pm

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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