Napoli wrapped up qualification for the next Champions League with a 3-0 win over Pisa at the Cetilar Arena of Pisa on April 6, taking the points in a match that felt little like a title run-in and more like an early-August friendly. Scott McTominay opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a header, Amir Rrahmani doubled the lead with another header from an Elmas corner, and Rasmus Hojlund added the third in stoppage time.
The result gave Napoli the one thing they needed before the final league match against Udinese: certainty. The table is still not settled, but their European place is, and the last game now only decides where they finish. The stoppage-time goal also improved goal difference for the final round, a small but useful margin in a season where every detail has mattered.
Antonio Conte went with Elmas instead of Kevin De Bruyne, while Alex Meret started in goal rather than Milinkovic-Savic, and Napoli controlled the game without needing to force the issue. Pisa lined up in a 3-5-2 with the Stojilkovic-Moreo pairing up front, but their only notable shot on target in the first half came at the very end of the period after a mistake by Alessandro Buongiorno. By then the home crowd had already turned, booing the coach when the lineups were read and then booing the team as a whole.
That anger was visible in a banner from supporters who said they had backed the club until effort, grit and sweat disappeared, and who warned there would be no discounts next year for anyone who remains in Pisa. The message matched the mood inside the stadium, where the home side spent much of the evening chasing a match Napoli had turned into a controlled exercise rather than a fight. The second half slowed even further, with Napoli managing the rhythm and not pressing hard.
Elmas was caught in a heated incident after the break and was substituted shortly afterward, one of the few moments that briefly lifted the temperature of a game otherwise played at a crawl. Napoli’s win also came against the backdrop of a season in which the club has suffered almost 30 injuries, a toll that has made Conte’s job harder but has not changed the broader pattern around his teams. At Juventus, Inter and now Napoli, Conte has never finished a league season below second place.
That is why the final day matters only in a narrow sense. Napoli need one point against Udinese to close out the campaign, and after this performance they are already where they most wanted to be. Pisa, meanwhile, were left with the sort of defeat that leaves less room for argument than for reflection.
