Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis said Gennaro Gattuso united the club as he hailed the head coach following their Coppa Italia triumph over Juventus.

Gattuso guided Napoli to their first title since 2014 courtesy of a 4-2 penalty shoot-out win against Juve in Rome on Wednesday.

Penalties were needed in the final following a scoreless draw behind closed doors in the Italian capital midweek.

De Laurentiis lauded the transformation overseen by former Milan midfielder and coach Gattuso, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti in December amid the club's struggles.

"It was in the air. Since Rino Gattuso arrived, many things changed here and everyone came together around him, around the club, around the idea of Napoli," De Laurentiis told RAI Sport.

"After all, at the end of the day, Napoli are the only club capable of contrasting Juventus for this title.

"We beat them in the Coppa Italia in 2012, we beat them in the Supercoppa, and so far we haven't been able to beat them only in Serie A."

Napoli, who defeated Inter en route to the Coppa Italia decider, will restart their Serie A campaign against Hellas Verona on Tuesday following the coronavirus pandemic.

Gattuso's Napoli are sixth in the standings through 26 games, six points behind Roma and nine adrift of fourth-placed Atalanta.