🧨Tale against Chivu: Scudetto shock after the madness of the last time😡

Napoli-Inter, even though it will take place on matchday eight, will be remembered as a key turning point in the race for the Scudetto: not only for the teams involved, but also because of the extremely tight standings at the top.

Conte versus Chivu, however, is a clash that was already worth the Scudetto 5 months ago: in May 2025, Parma-Napoli could have been title day for the Azzurri, a celebration postponed amid red cards and protests.

5 months ago, Chivu and Conte were expelled

On Matchday 37 of last season, Parma and Napoli faced off at the Tardini while Inzaghi’s Inter took on Lazio in Milan. The teams were separated by only one point and the matches were played simultaneously.

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Inter led 2-1 until the 90th minute, when Pedro scored the final equalizer 2-2. The Napoli bench found out and the end of the match against Parma became even more important.

Moments later, the tension spiraled out of control. Parma complained about the length of the stoppage in play which was about to be announced: at which point the benches got mixed up.

Before the deputy announced a 6-minute stoppage (which later became 7), Conte’s anger exploded, notably against Antonio Gagliardi, a former collaborator of Conte himself: “You couldn’t wait, you couldn’t wait! You’re a piece of shit, I’ll come get you after.”

Referee Doveri came over and sent off Conte and Chivu, who actually seemed among the calmest at the time. In the final moments, a penalty for Napoli was also (rightly) overturned after review of the monitor, due to a foul by Simeone before Neres was brought down in the box.

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The match ended 0-0 and the Scudetto was carried over to the final day, which Napoli won against Cagliari.

Conte: “Parma saved time”, Chivu: “Me, the usual idiot”

After the match, Antonio Conte explained the reasons for what happened: “I was really annoyed by Parma’s wasting time in the second halfI found it excessive in every way. And what’s more, they were even complaining about the stoppage time, which was only 6 minutes.”

“In the second half we played very little, once it was a cramp, another time a blow to the head, then the doctor came in, then came out, in my opinion it was too permissible. […] I can understand that there are different goals, but everything has a limit. That’s what bothered me.”

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After the match, Chivu rather downplayed the situation: “I consider myself the usual idiot who gets into fights and gets slapped, I’m guilty of that. I put my arms out to separate people, the referee interpreted it differently, I don’t know what information he got.”

An extremely stormy ending which influenced last year’s Scudetto, and barely 5 months later, the two coaches fought again on the 8th day.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

📸Alessandro Sabattin – 2025 Getty Images