It’s the 26th of April 1987 and the Stadio San Paolo is roaring. They’ve been having the time of their lives over the last three odd years but this season has been something else altogether. There are only three, four if you include this one, games left in the league season and the Partonopei sit atop the Serie A table. They’ve already managed to score a goal and with minutes left for half-time, another one could prove to be the game for the hosts.

Sure, Diego Maradona had a Flippo Galli watching and keeping a very close eye on him but this was Diego Armando Maradona which is why Giordano had faith. The clock ticks on and Giordano had other options. There was a runner towards his left, which would have been a simple slide-rule pass and safer options towards his right with not one but two men standing and waiting for the pass.

Because this is Napoli, who a mere 61 years after being founded were now challenging for a Scudetto. This was something that the club from Naples had never done in the recent past but they had managed to mount challenges. They never amounted to anything with the Partenopei falling short in the end but they did manage to finish second on two occasions, first under Bruno Pesaola nearly twenty years ago and then under Luis Vinicio, ten years ago.

Since then, Napoli had done well but there were nothing more than a mid-table club capable of making an occasional cameo in the upper echelons of the league. It wasn’t something anyone ever expected from them with consistency a myth although the same could never be said about AC Milan. The Rossoneri were Italian gods compared to the team from Naples because in the same twenty-year spell where finished second twice, AC Milan won three titles.

But even then, the 40-year-old had impressed in his first outing, a 1-0 win over Torino, and was looking for a bigger scalp with few coming as big Napoli that season. That was mainly to impress Silvio Berlusconi but the Rossoneri were never in title contention. Instead, it was a three-way battle between the Partenopei, Inter Milan and the reigning champions in the form of Juventus.

But there was history between the three sides and it all stemmed from their coaches with Inter Milan looking for success and thus they appointed Giovanni Trapattoni from Juventus. The Nerazzurri were looking to end a five-year title absence and believed that the man who had delivered six to Juventus would be the man to do just that. The Old Lady, in turn, replaced Trapattoni with Rino Marchesi who had two spells at Napoli (1980-82; 1983-85). His replacement at the Stadio San Paulo turned out to be Ottavio Bianchi.

Bianchi had been appointed at the start of the 1985/86 season because Napoli believed him to be the man to get the best out of their superstar; Diego Armando Maradona. El Pibe de Oro signed for the Partenopei in the summer of 1984 but the club could only manage a paltry eighth-place finish. Things improved under Bianchi as he helped the club make the most out of their younger players while helping Maradona thrive, something that the Argentine never struggled at.

He had netted nine goals going into the AC Milan game, with him the club’s top scorer with four more than Andrea Carnevale. It’s why the Partenopei had so much hope pinned on the Argentine and he responded in the first half itself. Because despite a stellar back-line featuring - Alberico Evani, Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Flippo Galli and Andrea Manzo, AC Milan were harassed.

But Milan were no slouches themselves because they caused serious problems for goalkeeper Claudio Garella with the Napoli man forced into a few early saves. Yet, Napoli managed to survive the impressive start that their visitors made before Andrea Carnevale opened the scoring. It took time, 33 minutes or thereabouts, but Napoli had their lead and suddenly the tide had turned.

That handed Carnevale with something close to a free-header and the Italian took full-advantage firing it into the net. Napoli had the lead and they were in control but Milan were never going to give up that easily which saw them charge forward relentlessly, searching for an equaliser. That opened up spaces on the fast-break for Napoli, which handed Carnevale a chance to make it 2-0 not even five minutes after he scored.

But Nuciari pulled off a top drawer save to keep his side in the running although as the half-time whistle flew closer, the stadium kept cheering their side on. Then two minutes before the half-time whistle and Bruno Giordano has the ball. The options are aplenty for the forward especially with five potential passes for him to play. A slide-rule pass finds the overlapping full-back down the left-hand side in acres of space on the flank.

It’s like a blanket of anticipation had covered the Stadio San Paulo at the very moment in time that Giordano made his decision.

Welcome to a moment in history…