Too little, too late! Napoli thrash Sassuolo now that they've lost the Scudetto race

What could have been? What if? Napoli fans will ask those sorts of questions a lot today and until next season takes hold of their hopes and dreams. Because their goal-happy performance and a 6-1 win over Sassuolo today suggests that they could have done a lot better in the race against Milan and Inter in the Italian Serie A.

A seventh-minute header from Khalidou Koulibaly set the tone for this match at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Victor Osimhen doubled the lead on 15 minutes and it was 4-0 just five minutes later after Hirving Lozano and Dries Mertens both beat Andre Consigli. The veteran goalkeeper must have wished he'd stayed at home as the Neapolitans kept on knocking at his door.

Mertens got another after a neat move involving Fabian Ruiz, but all that goal has done is to frustrate the Napoli faithful further. The same can be said about Amir Rrahmani's rare strike.

Oh, why couldn't we have played this way against Empoli, Roma and Fiorentina? They won just a point in their last three Serie A fixtures and ruined their chances of lifting the title they'd last held when the legendary Maradona wore their shirt.

Now they've only got the name of their stadium to remind them of those days. This could have been the year, but Luciano Spalletti and his team bottled it when it came to push or shove.

Even in a match like this, Napoli managed to concede a goal when Maxime Lopez scored late on to make it 6-1. Perhaps that is the reason Napoli's season fizzled out in such manner. Despite having some good players at the back, they let in too many goals when they needed to be solid. You don't win Scudettos with a sloppy defence.

Elsewhere, Cagliari lost at home to Hellas Verona and opened the door for Salernitana to stage a dramatic comeback and overtake them in 17th place.

SERIE A

Saturday

Cagliari - Verona 1-2 (0-2)

/Joao Pedro 57 - Barak 8, Caprari 44/

Napoli - Sassuolo 6-1 (4-0)

/Koulibaly 7, Osimhen 15, Lozano 19, Mertens 21, 54, Rrahmani 80 - Lopez 87/

19.00: (2.95) Sampdoria (3.10) Genoa (2.75)

21.45: (5.20) Spezia (3.70) Lazio (1.70)

Sunday

13.30: (1.24) Juventus (6.50) Venezia (13.0)

16.00: (1.71) Milan (3.80) Fiorentina (5.90)

16.00: (2.85) Empoli (3.30) Torino (2.70)

19.00: (6.00) Udinese (4.00) Inter (1.60)

21.45: (1.53) Roma (4.30) Bologna (7.00)

Monday

21.45: (1.33) Atalanta (6.25) Salernitana (10.0)

***odds are subject to change