Napoli's 1975-76 Coppa Italia opened the door to Europe

Corrado Ferlaino became Napoli president on 18 January 1969. In his early years the side settled into a habit of finishing near the top without ever closing the deal: third in Serie A in 1970-71, third again in 1973-74, runners-up in 1974-75 with Vinício as coach. A Napoli that was always there, but had only finishes to show for it.

The cup win opened the door to Europe. The following season, 1976-77, Napoli played in the Cup Winners' Cup and reached the semi-final, the furthest the club had gone in a European competition up to that point. Anderlecht were the side who stopped them.

Napoli would not go that far in Europe again until the 1988-89 UEFA Cup, with Maradona long since in the squad and the 1986-87 title already won. But that 1976-77 semi-final belongs to an earlier chapter: a Napoli that, before Maradona arrived in 1984 and the two titles won under Ferlaino's presidency, had already shown it could compete with Europe's biggest clubs.

It is an episode that sits within Ferlaino's long presidency, begun in 1969 and running through to the triumphs with Maradona: proof that the road to the biggest trophies had started years earlier, with a Coppa Italia won against Verona and a semi-final lost to Anderlecht.