Sorry, it will be better next time. The message that Juventus sends to Naples and, in general, to the rest of the championship, sounds more or less like this. Because yesterday's match could somehow overturn the hierarchies, which instead remained unchanged, even though Mazzarri's men left the field with their heads held high. The substitutes Caceres and Pogba decided the super challenge at the Stadium, and with their goals they unlocked a situation of total balance. An important signal, because championships are not won only with owners, but also (if not above all) with luxury alternatives. Conte drew the right cards from the deck, helped by that bit of luck that kisses only the big teams, because if Asamoah (up to there overflowing) hadn't been hurt, the first goal would never have arrived. In fact, Caceres not only replaced the Ghanaian, but messed up Napoli's scoring on set pieces: in the corner that broke the match, the Uruguayan found himself alone beating De Sanctis. A terrible hook, which was followed by a knockout left. Pogba's volley (who came on for the tired Vidal) was a jewel of rare beauty and personality, which definitively knocked out Napoli.
Having said the decisive episodes, let's now talk about the remaining 80 minutes of the game, in which the teams were essentially equal. Juventus built more, if only in terms of scoring chances, while Napoli, apart from an extraordinary free-kick by Cavani that ended up on the crossbar, preferred to focus on closing the gaps. Mission almost accomplished, because an unfortunate mistake in marking has derailed a plan up until then perfect. “We were commanding the game and it seemed that Juve had none left – Mazzarri commented bitterly. – Unfortunately after Asamoah's exit we lost Caceres' marking and we paid for this lightness: we expected Barzagli to jump and the Uruguayan popped up. On set pieces they are phenomenal, Pirlo puts it where he wants. At that point in the match, the only way to score was from a corner. Otherwise I don't remember any great shots from the Bianconeri, instead we hit the crossbar with Cavani…".
Of course, Angelo Alessio was in the opposite mood, celebrating his return to the bench with this very important victory. “For the second goal I pointed to the box where Antonio Conte is sitting: he is our coach, I wanted him to feel our closeness – explained the Juventus deputy elatedly. – We wanted to prevent Napoli from restarting and we succeeded, the team behaved well. For the rest, the numbers speak for themselves: eight games, seven wins, best attack and best defense. We are a great team and we have an excellent organization”.
