Il Naples puts the indicator on. The victory of Florence, a clear 3-0 signed by Neres, Lukaku e McTominay, allows him to gain 3 points on Atalanta and Inter and to climb to the top of the championship, albeit with one game more than Gasperini and two more than Inzaghi. The standings, therefore, are very provisional, but the Azzurri have certainly given a very important demonstration of strength, on the pitch of a Viola that came out diminished. This evening (20:45 pm) the spotlight will shift to Rome, theater of Derby between Ranieri's yellow and reds and the Lazio by Baroni: an exciting and delicate challenge, between two teams seeking city supremacy, but also and above all important points for the standings.
Fiorentina – Napoli 0-3: Conte wins at Franchi and leaves Atalanta and Inter behind
We don't know where it will go Naples at the end of the season, but the feeling is that this 3-0 on the field of Fiorentina could prove to be very important in the economy of his championship. A misstep would have given a nice boost to Atalanta and Inter in view of their respective recoveries; instead, Conte's men took advantage of the situation, making the most of the assist from the Super Cup. The Italian coach, once again, proved to be a factor with his simple but effective football, based on physique, organization and cynicism. Palladino, instead, comes out diminished by the comparison, because if it is true that two goals out of three are the result of individual errors, it is also true that his strategy it has revealed itself wrong, starting with the abandonment of the classic 4-2-3-1 in favour of a less profitable 3-4-2-1. The match, balanced for almost half an hour, turned the corner in the 29th minute thanks to Neres, author of one of his serpentine runs that ended in the back of De Gea's goal. The Viola had a surge of pride and caressed the thrill of the equaliser, but the goal by Kean was canceled for a control with the arm of the same attacker and the match thus slipped to 0-1 until the interval. At the beginning of the second half here is the decisive acceleration of Napoli, with the "kind" collaboration of Moreno: unfortunate, in fact, the do it on Anguissa which allowed Lukaku to double the score from a penalty (54'). At that point Palladino tried to put the pieces back together by returning to 4-2-3-1, but a double intervention from the pair Meret Rrahmani su Mandrake e Beltran took away his hope of getting back into the race, which was definitively sunk shortly after by McTominay: the Scotsman took advantage of a mistake by Comuzzo and beat De Gea for the third time (68'), allowing Conte to close the first half of the season with 44 points, an all-time record for a first-year Napoli coach.
Mourning for Conte, vice Stellini speaks: "Getting 44 points in a group was unimaginable"
“We are very happy with the victory, but today we received a bad blow because we lost a person very close to Napoli – commented Stellini, who appeared at the conference in place of Tale -. A child who was sick and to whom we tried to give moments of joy and who gave us so much strength, the coach didn't feel like coming to talk. I don't know if this success is the sign of a change in mentality, but it is something important that shows that our boys are working well. We are proud of what we are doing, we made 44 points and it was unimaginable at the beginning of the year. We take great energy from the victory, the boys must be proud of what they have done since the beginning of the year. We are happy because even those who played less played a great game. Today we feel this maturity on us, but we will have to demonstrate it game after game".
Rome – Lazio (20pm, Dazn)
Sunday's must will take place at the Olimpico, where Rome e Lazio will compete for the 184th Derby of the Capital, the 161st in Serie A. A challenge that goes beyond the ranking and that touches on much more important spheres such as passion and sentiment, even if the points always remain the same. If it were a match like the others, in fact, we would be talking about a Lazio clearly favored, strong of a +15 that had never been seen before, at least in a single group. Never before had a team from the Capital had such an advantage over the other after only 18 days, and yet Roma certainly does not start out defeated, indeed they dream of turning things around by beating their cousins from Lazio. Ranieri, as an old Testaccio heart with 4 derbies under his belt (all won), he leveraged precisely this, while Baroni, in his first derby, asked his players not to lose their nature and to assert the superiority seen so far. We will see if the emotional current or the technical one will prevail, certainly the match promises to be edgy as per tradition, even if perhaps a little less than in the recent past. The times of Mourinho vs Sarri, in fact, are archived and the feeling is that both want to try to play it with their respective weapons, even if the pressure load will induce the usual caution. For Rome, understood as a city, it is also a test of civilization: after six years, in fact, the derby will be played again will be (the 2021 one doesn't count, since the stadiums were closed to the public due to Covid) and the Police Headquarters has prepared a plan to avoid the usual (alas) incidents. The Olimpico will be dressed up for the occasion with over 65 thousand spectators (yet another sold out), of which 17.500 were Lazio fans: an opportunity not to be missed, to show everyone that even in Rome you can experience a derby exclusively dedicated to football.
Ranieri: “In the derby everything is reset, it's time to give the Friedkins some joy”
“In the management of the group, the derbies take charge by themselves, the fans already make you experience it in every event – he underlined Ranieri -. We opened the 'Tre Fontane' to wish them a happy new year, to meet our fans and our families. We didn't have to give ourselves more because they do it in every game. It's logical that they are aware of wanting to get to the Champions League, once they've touched it, but every derby is unique, the standings or anything else don't count, only the kick-off: from there there will be different games within the game. I'm of a certain age, once they used to say 'Roma is not something you discuss, you love it'. I've always loved it and I will always love it for better or for worse. When I was a child, a president even took up a collection and those fans became life members. The Friedkins put a lot of money into it, it's time to give them some satisfaction. December made us understand that we managed to get back together, now we're a team. I don't know how far we can get, honestly I've never promised my teams anything except work, sacrifice and the desire to give our all in every moment of every game. Now we have to eliminate the defects, but the ship is sailing again."
Baroni: “We live for games like this, the derby is like Christmas Day”
“The derby is special, you live for these matches – he replied Baroni -. They are wonderful, there is all the passion in them. Not just me, but also the team, we all have to approach the match with the joy that a challenge like this brings. Is Lazio the favorite? A premise, we are playing this match now, not two months ago: in the last five the teams have made the same number of points and since Ranieri has been here, Roma has scored double. A balanced, dangerous challenge, which is why it is even more beautiful. Is the wait for the derby different from any other? It is like saying that Christmas is a day like any other, for me it is not and neither will the derby. It will be the match in which we will need desire and determination, everything we have always put on the field. It is our nature, this team must never lose its nature, when it does it loses something. We know very well how dangerous the match is, but we have to play like Lazio, in this match there is all the passion of the city, of the two sets of fans. When you live with passion it is beautiful, I want the team to approach this event with joy”.
Roma – Lazio, the probable lineups
Rome (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Mancini, Hummels, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Koné, Paredes, Angelino; Dybala, El Shaarawy; Dovbyk
In bench: Ryan, Marin, Sangaré, Hermoso, Dahl, De Marzi, Abdulhamid, Pisilli, Le Fée, Zalewski, Baldanzi, Lo. Pellegrini, Soulé, Shomurodov
Coach: Ranieri
Unavailable: Cristante, Celik
Disqualified: Nobody
Lazio (4-2-3-1): Provedel; Marusic, Gila, Romagnoli, Tavares; Guendouzi, Rovella; Isaksen, Dele-Bashiru, Zaccagni; Castellanos
In bench: Mandas, Furlanetto, Gigot, Lu. Pellegrini, Lazzari, Castrovilli, Hysaj, Basic, Tchaouna, Noslin, Dia
Coach: Barons
Unavailable: Neighbor, Pedro, Patric
Disqualified: Nobody
