Francesco Totti has backed Napoli to win the Serie A title while receiving his award for Exceptional Achievement at the 2018 Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony in Monaco. The 41-year-old became only the third recipient of the prize after United States swimmer Michael Phelps and Chinese tennis ace Li Na.

Speaking on the occasion, Totti hoped that the Naples outfit end Juventus’ dominance of the Scudetto. The Bianconeri have won the previous six league titles, and he is hoping for the streak to cease this season, he said:"It would be better if Napoli won it. Otherwise it would all just become monotonous with Juve."

Meanwhile, Totti admitted that he is missing his time on the playing field after having taken over in a sporting director role at San Siro, he added: “I'm scared of life. I'm scared of the future. I'm missing all the simple things, like lacing up my boots, playing in games, the rituals in the dressing room, the dinners with my teammates -- all things which were my life in these years."

The legendary playmaker continued to speak about the progress of AS Roma during the current campaign, and he believes that the Giallorossi are more than capable of finishing in the top-four ahead of rivals Lazio and Inter Milan, who are presently ahead of them in the third and fourth positions respectively.

Roma are also alive in the Champions League despite a 2-1 defeat on the road to Shakhtar Donetsk in the round of 16 first-leg, and Totti is hoping for a stronger performance at the San Siro in order to assure the club’s progress into the quarter-finals of the tournament. Juventus have made the final of the elite competition in two of the last three seasons, but it may be a huge askfor any Italian side to repeat the feat this term.