At the time of writing (2023), SSC Napoli are flying high at the top of the Serie A table and Jose Mourinho’s Roma side have begun the year in scintillating form. The nascent strike partnership between Tammy Abraham and Paulo Dybala is beginning to light up the Stadio Olimpico which has hitherto had to endure Mourinho’s bus being thoroughly parked in front of goalkeeper Rui Patricio’s net. With the rivalry between fans boiling over off the pitch and the two sides leading the way in Serie A, Sunday’s Derby del Sole is one that is not to be missed. Here, I have chosen Roma and Napoli’s greatest wins in this fixture’s 95 year history, and, the greatest draw played out between the two teams to tell the footballing story which can set the scene for Sunday’s crucial clash.
The Derby del Sole: A game for day-dreamers
Naples and Rome are two cities that have captured the imaginations of day-dreamers around the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that, ‘At home, I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness.’ SSC Napoli and AS Roma have intoxicated many a football fan ever since they played out their first derby del sole in 1928. Even the name, translated as ‘derby of the sun’, has a poetic richness to it that seems somewhat out of place in a footballing context.
The reality of Napoli and Roma’s sporting rivalry is perhaps less pleasant than the day-dreamers might expect. Relations between the two sets of fans are arguably at all-time low with open clashes between ultras in early January dominating the sporting and national headlines in the Italian press. It is another example of violence which was at its most extreme in 2014 when, shortly before Napoli were to take on Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia final in Rome, Napoli fan, Ciro Esposito was murdered by an AS Roma ultra.
Things have not always been this way, as Calcio historian Martin Dunlop has suggested,
“For decades, the Derby del Sole represented the warm relationship between Roma and Napoli, due to the two clubs’ gemellagio. A gemellagio is a ‘twinning’ between teams and supporters, who are usually bound by a common cause; in the case of Roma and Napoli, the common cause was shared opposition to their more illustrious northern rivals, particularly the two Milan clubs and Juventus.”
Martin Dunlop
In 1987, during Napoli’s most glorious period of success, a bad-tempered 1-1 draw in the Italian capital ended with Salvatore Bagni making an obscene gesture to the crowd. The twinning was cancelled by the two sets of ultras and over the past 35 years the rivalry has heated up. In recent times, the derby del sole has also created some iconic moments on the pitch. Dries Mertens’ ‘dog claiming his territory’ goal celebration in 2017 has been prolifically meme-fied by Napoli tifosi and most Roma fans worth their salt will remind their southern rivals of the time Edin Dzeko knocked Napoli off the top of the table with a cold-eyed brace in a 4-2 win in 2018. The elusive third Scudetto for SSC Napoli remained out of reach ever since.
Roma’s Greatest Win: Roma 5 Napoli 2, February 1983
Roma were running away with the Serie A title when Napoli came to visit in February 1983. On paper, this was an easy task since Napoli’s mix of creaking club stalwarts like goalkeeper Luciano Castellini, aging superstars like Ruud Krol and up-and-coming foreign talent like Ramon Diaz, had been misfiring – the club were second from bottom and in danger of relegation.
Title nerves were beginning to show in Rome, as Roma chased only their second Scudetto. AC Milan legend, the Swedish Nils Liedholm managed the giallorossi and his side had been unbeaten since October but had struggled to put together a run of wins in the new year. Away draws against Torino, Verona and Ascoli meant that the enormously talented squad hadn’t entirely put the title race to bed.
Come full time this Roma side, perhaps one of the most underrated in Serie A history, laid Napoli to waste. The team contained one of the greatest midfields which the league has ever seen. All four midfielders who lined up in this Derby del Sole had a complete range of skills. Brazil 1982 World Cup alum, Falcao, provided creativity and cutting edge, Carlo Ancelotti and Herbert Prohaska could read the game to contain attacks but also launch them and Agostino Di Bartolomei was encouraged by Liedholm to shield the defence with his passing range. Add wing legend Bruno Conti and ‘bomber’ Roberto Pruzzo (who was in red-hot form this season) into the mix and the five goals Roma scored seem like an underachievement.
Roma’s flowing passing game was turned against them early on, however and an interception in midfield led to a Napoli counter attack which Diaz finished to put i partenopei ahead. Roma solidified and, after equalizing through a set play found the confidence in midfield to dominate. Ancelotti’s screamer from the edge of the box put Roma ahead at half time
After the interval Di Bartolomei made it three with a delightful, low 35 yard strike and lashed in another long range beauty from an indirect free kick for a fourth. The technical quality of all three goals from midfield remains hugely impressive to this day. Castellini’s horror show came to a close with Roma’s fifth, Pruzzo capitalizing on some sloppy work between the sticks as Roma’s position as the best footballing side in the country was cemented.
Napoli would leave the capital and lick their wounds – securing a run of results that guaranteed safety. Roma would go on to secure a famous second league title, playing a brand of football that any modern football team would be proud to call their own.
Napoli’s Greatest Win: Napoli 3 Roma 0, 2014.
The second leg of the 2014 Coppa Italia semi final had all the ingredients of a classic. Rudi Garcia’s Gervinho-inspired Roma side had won the opening fixture 3 – 2 in Rome but Napoli, under new manager Rafa Benitez, had a huge amount of fire power in their starting XI which boasted Gonzalo Higuain, Dries Mertens, Marek Hamsik and Jose Callejon.
Excitement in Naples reached fever pitch when whispers of Diego Maradona’s first appearance in the city for 9 years became louder and louder. Come kick off, however, there was no sight of the Argentinian legend. Another icon of Italian football would be definitely watching the game from the beginning: Francesco Totti was benched by Garcia.
The game lived up to its open billing and both teams had good chances to score early on. As play progressed, the Napoli team seemed to rise to the excitement of the crowd and started to put on an exhibition for Maradona that had not yet been spotted in the stadium. After 33 minutes, Christian Maggio, released by the energetic Hamsik delivered a wonderful cross for Callejon to ghost through the static Roma defence and head the ball home. It would be a goal he would repeat many times in his Napoli career.
With the tie now level, the Napoli team and fans scented blood and went on the offensive in the raucous atmosphere of the Stadio San Paolo. Hamsik’s outrageous 40 yard lob didn’t quite make its way past Morgan De Sanctis in the Roma goal but it was a clear sign of intent as the two sides headed into their dressing rooms at the interval.
Fire crackers and roars greeted the second half as Diego Maradona took his seat in the stadium. He was his typically excitable self when his compatriot Higuain put Napoli two up from a header. Embraces, kisses and smiles from Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentis greeted the goal and a party-like atmosphere in the stadium, inspired by now legendary stadium announcer Decibel Bellini, brought together Napoli’s past and current glories.
Fans who were there have remembered this game for years for the rarity of a Maradona appearance but also the confident, flowing football that continued to support the team’s re-emergence as a footballing superpower in the 2010’s. Napoli’s third – a delicate finish from a late run into the box from Jorginho was greeted by Maradona raising three fingers to the rapturous crowd. Napoli would win 3 – 0 and go on to win the cup in Florence, albeit in tragic circumstances.