On the one hand, Milan, points to the hand of the best team of 2013. On the other side, Napoli, fresh from three consecutive victories and with four points more than their rivals. In the middle, second place, essential for anyone who wants to enter the Champions League without the annoying interlude of the preliminaries, which could ruin next season before it has even begun.
On Sunday evening at San Siro, a key match of this championship finale, a real cornerstone of the Europe area, will be staged. Because the Rossoneri and Azzurri won't be the only ones involved: from Fiorentina to Inter (and, to be generous, also to Roma), there will be many interested spectators. The ideal, for all of them, would be a victory for Napoli, which would suck Milan into third place in full tussle, but looking closely, even a draw could be satisfactory.
The story changes for those directly involved. The Azzurri have two results out of three available, and it is probable that this will translate into a wait-and-see attitude, aimed at exploiting counter-attacks rather than imposing their own game. The rumors coming from Naples, however, say that De Laurentiis would like to win, both to dispel the San Siro taboo (the last Neapolitan success dates back to 13 April 1986, 1-2 with goals from Maradona and Giordano) and to further charge Mazzarri, the whose future still hangs in the balance. Maybe, but logic says that a draw would be fine, since it would be equivalent to locking up second place. The calendar is clear: after Sunday's big match, Napoli will face Cagliari and Pescara, while Milan will be on stage in Turin against leaders Juve and then at San Siro against Maran's terrible Catania.
In short, the only way to keep dreaming of second place is to win. The Rossoneri will have to do without Balotelli, who is suspended for the next three matches (but Galliani has already sent his appeal), but they will be able to count on an extra Pazzini and a hotter than usual stadium. Also thanks to Napoli, which should bring around 7 fans to San Siro. A nice sequel, testifying to the fact that the blue people believe in the company. In the grandstand there will be Aurelio De Laurentiis, who will return from the Maldives on purpose to try to dispel the taboo that has lasted for 27 years.
A sign of how much the challenge is felt also came from Adriano Galliani: “Sunday's match will be very, very, very important – he declared in Lega Calcio. – We play almost everything because it is a direct match”. Everything is ready for the San Siro show, which will be refereed by Mr. Rocchi from Florence. But that's another story, which we hope we never have to talk about again.
