Una Super Cup never seen. Italian football is preparing to award the first title of the season, only that, unlike previous years, it will not do so with a one-off match, but with a "mini-tournament" made up of two semi-finals and a final (in case of a draw no extra time, but penalties conceded). The participants, for the first time in the history of Serie A, will therefore be four: the Napoli championship, theInter winner of the Italian Cup, the Lazio second in the standings and the Fiorentina finalist. An unprecedented and, inevitably, much discussed formula, but identical in every way to the Spanish one which took place last week with the victory of Real Madrid. Riyadh is preparing to remove the yellow-red flag to dress in the tricolour, before distributing a check for 23 million (the real reason for everything) which will be divided (League share aside) between the four participants. The winner will get 8, which is why this Super Cup is worth so much, regardless of its true sporting meaning.
Napoli – Fiorentina (20pm, Italia Uno)
It starts with Napoli-Fiorentina, before semifinal of the tournament. Whoever passes will go to play next Monday's final with the winner of Inter-Lazio, with the chance to get a cup and fill up with enthusiasm for the rest of the season. The discussion, obviously, applies above all to Napoli, a real disappointment in the championship: the Super Cup would not be enough to erase the problems seen so far, but it would give a good shock to the whole environment. On the other side there is Italian's Fiorentina, looking for their first gold medal after the silver ones last year. The Italian Cup and Conference League finals, although rewarding regardless, were lost and the Viola coach wants to reverse the trend, also to remove the annoying label of "good but loser". On paper we expect a good match, even if the championship precedent (1-3 for Fiorentina at Maradona) could be deceiving. That evening, in fact, Garcia's Azzurri were literally asphalted and Mazzarri certainly doesn't want to end up the same way, despite his team still being full of problems. It's difficult to make any predictions: Napoli is full of absences (osimhen, Anguissa, Nathan, Olive, Meret e From Mrs) and Fiorentina also has to deal with the ailments of Nico Gonzalez.
Napoli – Fiorentina, the lineups: Mazzarri confirms Simeone, Italian focuses on Beltran
Le formations they will be very different from the ideal ones, but this is no longer new. Mazzarri will confirm Saturday's lineup against Salernitana, therefore 4-3-3 with Gollini in goal, Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus and Mario Rui in defense, Cajuste, Lobotka and Zielinski in midfield, Politano, Simeone and Kvaratskhelia in attack. Italiano will respond with a 4-2-3-1 with Terracciano between the posts, Faraoni, Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta and Biraghi in the defensive department, Arthur and Duncan in the midfield, Ikoné, Bonaventura and Brekalo behind the lone striker Beltran.
Inter – Lazio (tomorrow 20pm, Canale 5)
Also very interesting semifinal of Friday between Inter e Lazio, between two teams that are going through excellent moments of form. Compared to the match a month ago, which ended with the Nerazzurri's victory at the Olimpico (2-0), the distances have aligned: now the Biancocelesti are confident and really want to try to annoy the Nerazzurri. Which, however, in addition to being objectively stronger, are trained by Simone Inzaghi, a true specialist of the event with four successes. The record, currently shared with Fabio Capello and Marcello Lippi, would become absolute in the event of a fifth victory, so it is logical to expect an even more motivated Inter than usual. Then there is the economic aspect, which is anything but secondary, in light of the juicy 8 million prize (5 million will go to the other finalist, while the two defeated semi-finalists will "settle" for 1,6 million each) which it appeals to the participants, except for Maurizio Sarri, protagonist of at least curious declarations (immediately quashed by Lotito, one of the promoters of the format change) on the value of the tournament. Here too, just like in the match between Napoli and Fiorentina, it is difficult to make a prediction, given that Inter are favourites. Lazio, however, has chances, provided they don't repeat the mistakes of the championship.
