Here's how Conte transformed Napoli from Serie A has-been back to title champions

Antonio Conte started the season apologizing to the Napoli fans. He is ending it with those same supporters chanting his name.

- AGENCIES

Napoli beat Cagliari 2-0 on Friday, in the final round of Serie A, to see the title return to the southern city. They finished one point above defending champions Inter Milan.

There was little sign of that happening at the start of the season.

Conte's first league match in charge of Napoli was a dismal 3-0 loss to Hellas Verona in the opening round. So poor was his team that Conte said he was "ashamed" and his players had "melted like snow in the sun."

It was clear he had a lot of work to do.

Conte became Napoli's fifth coach in little more than a year and the scudetto celebrations of 2023 seemed a distant memory, especially after Napoli delivered on the worst title defenses in Serie A history the previous season, finishing 10th.

Here are the keys to Napoli's success in the 2024-25 Italian league:

Winning coach
Conte is no stranger to lifting the Serie A trophy. He started Juventus' dominance of Italian soccer, brought the Serie A title to Inter Milan for the first time in more than a decade, and has now transformed Napoli from title has-been back to league champion.