There are still seven gameweeks left to play in the 2022-23 Serie A season, and plenty will change between now and the end of the campaign on the first weekend of June.
However, such has been Napoli's dominance in the Italian top flight this term that they find themselves on the brink of being crowned champions already - a triumph which will go down as one of the greatest occasions in their history.
Not since the days of Naples' favourite adopted son Diego Maradona have I Partenopei won the Scudetto, and what looks like an inevitable coronation this season would be only the third time in their entire history that they have been crowned champions of Italy.
Both of the previous occasions came in the space of four seasons, but the most recent of those was 33 years ago in 1989-90, since when Napoli have sunk as low as the third tier, been declared bankrupt, been re-founded and worked their way back up the leagues.
With history now potentially just one game away, Sports Mole looks at what needs to happen for Napoli to win the Serie A title this weekend.
THIS WEEKEND'S SERIE A PERMUTATIONS
© Reuters
Champions: None
Guaranteed Champions League: Napoli
Relegated: None
Promoted to Serie A: None
WHAT COULD HAPPEN THIS WEEKEND?
TITLE PICTURE
KEY FIXTURES
Inter Milan vs. Lazio (Sunday, 11.30am)
Napoli vs. Salernitana (Sunday, 2pm)
NAPOLI
There has been an air of inevitability about Napoli's title triumph for a long time now, and Luciano Spalletti's electric side - spearheaded by the brilliant Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia - have shown no signs of succumbing to the significant pressure of emulating the glory days of Maradona and co.
A first title since 1990 is now within sight and could be sealed on Sunday, although they do still have some work to do, while in order for it to be decided this weekend they would also need a favour from elsewhere.
The runaway leaders had been due to play Salernitana on Saturday, but that game has now been pushed back to Sunday due to public security reasons.
That means that Napoli will know whether they can win the title by the time they kick off, with that fate first lying in the hands of Lazio and Inter Milan in the early Serie A kickoff of the day.
Should second-placed Lazio fail to win away to the Champions League semi-finalists, who need a win themselves to get their Champions League hopes for next season back on track, then the door will be open for Napoli.
Spalletti's men would then just need to beat 14th-placed Salernitana in the newly-assigned 2pm kickoff in order to end their long wait to be crowned champions of Italy.
PROMOTION TO SERIE A
KEY FIXTURES
Bari vs. Cittadella (Monday, 2pm)
Frosinone vs. Reggina (Monday, 7.30pm)
FROSINONE
There was huge controversy in Serie B at the weekend involving one of the automatic promotion contenders, to the extent that Bari's win over Pisa on Sunday has not yet been officially ratified at the time of writing.
The winning goal in the 88th minute came from the penalty spot, but only after the ball had struck the foot of referee Angelo Colombo in the buildup - something which should have led to the match being stopped and therefore the handball which resulted in the penalty not occurring.
The mistake could yet lead to the match being replayed, although Pisa's general manager Giovanni Corrado has confirmed that his side will not launch an appeal as he believes there is "0%" chance of it being successful.
The above league slice shows the table complete with the three points Bari won in that game, but if that does get overturned and the match needs to be replayed then the situation could change slightly.
Either way, the permutations for Frosinone remain the same this weekend, with promotion to Serie A potentially being confirmed on Monday.
For that to happen, the league leaders would need Bari to drop points against Cittadella earlier on Monday, and then Frosinone would need to beat Reggina in the late Serie B match on Monday.
SERIE A TABLE IN FULL
THIS WEEKEND'S SERIE A SCHEDULE IN FULL
Friday, April 28
Lecce vs. Udinese (5.30pm)
Spezia vs. Monza (7.45pm)
Saturday, April 29
Roma vs. AC Milan (5pm)
Torino vs. Atalanta BC (7.45pm)
Sunday, April 30
Inter Milan vs. Lazio (11.30am)
Cremonese vs. Hellas Verona (2pm)
Napoli vs. Salernitana (2pm)
Sassuolo vs. Empoli (2pm)
Fiorentina vs. Sampdoria (5pm)
Bologna vs. Juventus (7.45pm)
Click here for a full list of this season's Serie A results
Barney Corkhill
