Season guide · 2022/23. Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli secured the 2023 Scudetto with a 1–1 draw at Udinese on 4 May. To explore how that side played, one useful starting point is UEFA’s technical analysis of the 4–2 home win over Ajax earlier in the same season.
Use the shape as a starting point
UEFA identified Napoli’s attacking setup against Ajax as a 4–3–3. Full-backs Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Mathías Olivera advanced, Stanislav Lobotka controlled play from midfield, and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Piotr Zieliński joined attacks. Wide forwards could hold the touchline or move inside.
The formation is a map, rather than a description of where every player stays. When watching, follow what happens after a player leaves the position shown on the team sheet: who occupies that space next, and which passing option appears?
Watch movement around the ball
In the opening goal against Ajax, Hirving Lozano moved inside from the right, combined with Zieliński and continued beyond the defence to head in the return. The useful detail is the continued run after the pass, not simply the final touch.
UEFA also described a compact 4–5–1 defensive shape in that match. Comparing the attacking and defending pictures is more informative than treating the starting formation as fixed for ninety minutes.
Keep the example in context
A technical report on one European fixture cannot explain every league match. Treat it as a viewing exercise: pause a sequence, locate the full-backs and midfielders, then watch how the next pass changes the available space.
Spalletti’s title-night comments emphasised the work of the players, club and supporters. The achievement belonged to an entire campaign; a selected match helps illustrate its football without replacing that wider story.
Explore more coaching stories, or compare a later championship in our 2025 retrospective. Player roles here describe 2022/23, not Napoli’s current squad.
Sources: UEFA’s Napoli–Ajax technical analysis and SSC Napoli’s report of Spalletti’s title-night comments. Independent season guide; checked 24 October 2026.