Napoli

Lore & Background

The rivalry with Juventus gained attention in the 1980s when Napoli became league contenders. Napoli won their first scudetto in the 1986–87 Serie A with star player Diego Maradona, three points ahead of second-placed Juventus, becoming the first and only Southern Italian team to win the league. They won another title in the 1989–90 Serie A. After that, Napoli declined and were relegated to Serie B in the 1997–98 Serie A after winning only two matches.

By August 2004, Napoli was declared bankrupt. Film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis refounded Napoli under the name Napoli Soccer, placed in the 2004–05 Serie C1. They secured promotion to Serie B in the 2005–06 Serie C1, and De Laurentiis bought back the name Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli in May 2006. After one season back in the 2006–07 Serie B, Napoli were promoted to Serie A, along with that season's Serie B champions, Juventus, after Juventus had been controversially relegated at the end of the 2005–06 Serie A due to the Calciopoli scandal.

The rivalry intensified in the 2010s with Napoli's 2–0 win over Juventus in the 2012 Coppa Italia final, which was Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero's last game for Juventus. Between the 2011–12 and 2016–17 Serie A seasons, Juventus won each title, with Napoli finishing in at least the top five each season. In summer 2016, Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuaín was signed by Juventus for €90 million from Napoli, the third highest football transfer of all-time and highest ever for an Italian club; Higuaín jerseys were burned in the streets of Naples.

Since then, Napoli fans were not allowed to travel to Turin for Juventus match-ups and vice versa. On 22 April 2018, Napoli fans were allowed to travel to Turin but not those from the Campania region; Napoli won 1–0 with a 90th-minute header from Kalidou Koulibaly to close the gap to one point behind Juventus, though Juventus won the 2017–18 Serie A title four points ahead of Napoli.

Reader's Guide

Napoli's head-to-head ranking in Serie A against Juventus shows Juventus with 65 higher finishes and Napoli with 15 higher finishes as of the end of the 2025–26 season. No head-to-heads occurred in 14 seasons when Napoli was in Serie B, and the 2006–07 season took place in Serie B with Juventus finishing first and Napoli second. The 1945–46 Italian Football Championship is not included in Serie A statistics. Due to the Calciopoli scandal, Juventus' 2004–05 Serie A title was voided, and their 2005–06 title was awarded to third-placed Inter Milan.