Cyclone Atalanta on the championship. The splendid victory of Gasperini's men on Naples Conte reshuffles the cards at the top, adding the Goddess to the ranks of Scudetto contenders. In there, of course, there is also theInter of Inzaghi, who jumped to within 1 point of the league leaders after the (very close) success over Venice: next Sunday, at San Siro, there will be a direct clash and the Nerazzurri could take first place, putting an end to the Neapolitan reign. In any case, the group of pursuers is quite rich, given that in addition to Inter and Atalanta there's also Fiorentina (0-1 in Turin, seventh consecutive victory between the league and the cup) and, perhaps, the Lazio, following the success in the postponed match against Cagliari (20pm). The list does not include Rome of Juric, also defeated in Verona and increasingly distant from the top areas (fourth place is a good 9 points away), with the possibility of worsening further after EmpoliComo e Parma-Genoa (both at 18pm), the other two challenges today.
Napoli – Atalanta 0-3: Gasperini overwhelms Conte and enters the Scudetto race
The direct clash of Maradona was taken by theAtalanta, able to thrash the league leaders with a 0-3 as sensational as it is deserved. The score, perhaps, is slightly wide, but there is no doubt that the Goddess dominated the match from start to finish, in all its phases. The initial one, marked by aggression and attacking spaces, the central one, made of management and control, the final one, in which he even indulged himself by scoring the third goal.
Il Naples instead comes out diminished, because if against Milan there were already cracks in the game (masked by the victory), yesterday they visibly widened. The Azzurri they never managed to create problems to Atalanta, prisoners of a somewhat predictable score tied to the performances of Lukaku and Kvaratskhelia. Once they were stopped (and the Nerazzurri did it very well, in particular with a sumptuous Hien in man-marking on the Belgian), there is no plan B and this has greatly weakened the offensive phase, allowing the Goddess to defend without too much suffering and strike on the counterattacks. The Unleashed Lookman He took the stage with a brace already in the first half (10' and 31'), while the final seal was put by him Retegui in full recovery (90+2'), moreover as a substitute: yes, because Gasperini allowed himself the luxury of conquering the Maradona leaving the top scorer of the championship on the bench, demonstrating the many variations of his game. What was missing instead for Conte, who now will have to prepare well for the trip to San Siro next Sunday, otherwise he risks finding himself in third place, overtaken by Inter and Atalanta themselves.
Conte: “Atalanta is stronger than us, I have nothing to reproach my players for”
“I have to be very honest, I think the team performed in the right way – the analysis of Tale -. We could have certainly done a little better on the goals, but I have nothing to reproach the boys for in terms of commitment. We had to play a game with pressure and spent a lot of energy, I have little to say to the players. We met a strong team, in my opinion more than us: I had already said it on the eve of the match and not to cover my hands, but only because I analyze situations. Atalanta has been on a journey for years, it is a team with a structured squad that must scare everyone. We must take these matches and evaluate them because they are part of a journey, there are many of them who work together, every year they lay bricks. We shouldn't be ashamedif, at this moment, they can be a point of reference for us".
Gasperini: “Great victory, but we still have to grow for the championship”
“We are happy, we have delivered a high level performance – he rejoiced Gasperini -. Napoli is a strong team that has done extraordinary things, but the awareness of last year's results has allowed us to grow in personality and also on a technical level. Us for the championship? It's not a question of hiding since these games are a balance for us too, but I prefer not to indulge in excessive predictions. team is growing, that's for sure, and the new additions are responding well, but there is still a lot of work to do, our core of players is solid and is demonstrating that it has the confidence that can take us far. Retegui on the bench? It may seem strange to leave out a striker like him, especially considering his current form. But I have faith in both Lookman and De Ketelaere, as well as Retegui himself, and I knew they could make the difference even as substitutes."
Inter – Venezia 1-0: Lautaro decides, goal disallowed for the Venetians in the final
Next Sunday's big match takes on even more value after the Inter's success, which rose to within 1 point of Napoli thanks to the1-0 over Venice. A meagre result and far from the expectations of the eve, the result of many errors in front of goal and a performance that was at the very least questionable, in which even Di Francesco's men were quite dangerous. Not even the prospect of closing the gap on Conte has awakened the Nerazzurri from their sleep at the start of this season, in which Inzaghi's great difficulty, more than in beating his opponents, consists in keep everyone on edge and avoid dangerous voltage drops. And so a Partita what seemed obvious turned out to be rather tricky, With the 'Inter waste several goal opportunities already in the first half (Lautaro, Thuram and Mkhitaryan) and even risked going behind: just a great reflex by Summer, combined with Oristanio's imprecision, in fact avoided the sensational 0-1. In the second half the Nerazzurri increased the revs and in the 51st minute found the net with Mkhitaryan, but the referee disallowed it for Dimarco's offside. San Siro went from joy to an equally big scare, as Sommer blocked Pohjanpalo with a sure shot, then shouted in anger at yet another wasted opportunity (again the Armenian), starting to fear a haunted night. In the 65th minute, however, the Dimarco-Lautaro duo, the first with a perfect assist, the second with the header that sent the Nerazzurri fans into a frenzy, 249 days after the last time at home. All over? Not even in your dreams. Inter missed other opportunities to make it 2-0 and to 97', right in the last action of the match, came frozen by Sverko: moments of terror transformed into delirium thanks to the Yes, who was fishing a touch with the defender's arm, thus certifying the final 1-0.
Inzaghi: “We should have been more cynical! Napoli? Arsenal is first…”
"We should have been more cynical, but I congratulated the team because we played a great first half, despite missing important goals – the comment of Inzaghi -. Then in the first quarter of an hour of the second half we lost our distance and conceded chances, and after finding the lead we were unable to close it out. We know Serie A, the games are always in the balance and we should have been cynical, you can't get to the 7th minute of injury time with a one-goal lead. Scudetto race? There are strong teams that have invested and strengthened themselves, we have done the same with players who will give us a hand. It will be a balanced championship, we are all there, but these games can make the difference and you have to get there well, with the right rotations. The challenge with Napoli? It won't be decisive, but it's certainly important. In two and a half days we'll be facing one of the strongest teams in Europe and we have to prepare well, the my thoughts are with Arsenal".
Verona – Roma 3-2: Giallorossi still defeated and far from the Europa zone
Another bad night instead for the Juric's Rome, Defeated in Verona too and sunk to eleventh place in the standings, with the possibility of falling further in the event of a victory for Empoli today. The Bentegodi was the scene of theanother crazy match for the Giallorossi, an up and down of emotions peppered with five goals that ended up rewarding Zanetti, with his first success after the heavy defeats against Monza, Atalanta and Lecce.
Roma another chance fails like this to put the ranking back in order, confirming the enormous structural problems and a worrying mental fragility. Also Juric has his faults, not so much for the initial formation (the choice of Soulé, for example, paid off), but for changes on the fly: why take Dovbyk off with the score at 2-2? It's difficult to give answers, especially since the coach, as we will see shortly, continues to say he is satisfied with the game played, leaving the listeners almost incredulous. It must be said that the defeat is also influenced by the individual errors, some so serious as to arouse disbelief: the passage with which Zalewski he sent it to the goal Tengstedt for the 1-0 Hellas (13'), in fact, would be underlined with a red pencil even in football schools. Roma reacted immediately and found the draw with Soulé (28'), but shortly after came back behind with a header from Magnani, although the action seems to be tainted by a foul that was not seen by the referee or the VAR (34'). At the beginning of the second half, however, here is the beautiful action on the axis Celik-Dovbyk to sign the 2-2 (53'), giving the impression of an imminent turnaround. A false feeling because Roma, despite their territorial dominance, were no longer able to beat Montipò, and ended up being hit on the counterattack by Harrui right at the end (88').
Juric: “We pay for our mistakes and those of the referees, but things will change”
"We have ran a very good race, creating numerous goal-scoring opportunities and dominating the match – the thought of Juric -. We did everything to win by doing some very good things, but at this moment we are making some mistakes mistakes we pay dearly for, as well as those of the referees who make us lose points. If I analyze the game with lucidity I say that Roma did really well, creating a lot and conceding very little. However, mistakes in football are paid for, both ours and those of others. We controlled the game well, Verona shot little and made few counterattacks. On the last occasion we read the situation badly, while in the first half we conceded a goal due to a glaring error and a refereeing blunder: Magnani's goal was irregular, there was an elbow that was not evaluated. My future? I can't answer that. We did better than the win against Torino, but right now we're making too many obvious mistakes. I'm not worried, I see the growth and I'm sure things will change for the better."
Lazio – Cagliari (20pm, Dazn and Sky)
At the roll call of this eleventh day There are still three games left, but the most interesting is certainly the one between Lazio and Cagliari. Important evening at the Olimpico, both in terms of Champions League and salvation: the Biancocelesti and Rossoblu have excellent reasons to win, even if it is clear that they are the first to start as favourites. Baroni's team is undoubtedly the best surprise of the championship, in light of the 19 points in the standings and the eight wins in the last nine games, regardless of the players deployed. The coach had no problem using them all, both by choice and to compensate for injuries and suspensions, and the responses were even better than expected. The Lazio wins and puts on a show always playing with an open face regardless of the opponents, which is why it has forcefully entered the fight for the top positions. The calendar also gives it a good chance to further improve its ranking, given that after Cagliari there will be Monza, Bologna and Parma (with Porto and Ludogorets in the Europa League in between), before a challenge against Napoli that could even turn into a direct clash.
Lazio – Cagliari, probable formations
Lazio (4-2-3-1): Provedel; Lazzari, Gila, Romagnoli, Pellegrini; Guendouzi, Rovella; Isaksen, Dia, Noslin; Castellanos
On the bench: Mandas, Furlanetto, Gigot, Marusic, Patric, Vecino, Zaccagni, Tchaouna, Dele Bashiru, Castrovilli, Pedro
Coach: Baroni
Unavailable: none
Suspended: Tavares
Cagliari (4-2-3-1): Scuffet; Zappa, Mina, Luperto, Augello; After, Deiola; Zortea, Viola, Luvumbo; Small
On the bench: Ciocci, Azzi, Wieteska, Palomino, Marin, Obert, Felici, Prati, Jankto, Makoumbou, Sherri, Gaetano, Lapadula, Pavoletti
Coach: Nicola
Unavailable: none
Disqualified: none
