You expect Higuain and Cassano appears instead. It is Pibe de Bari who decides the night of the San Paolo, signing the clamorous victory of Parma over the favorite Napoli. Three well-deserved points, because the Emilians controlled the match from start to finish, managing the (few) outbursts from the hosts in the best possible way and always making themselves dangerous with surgical restarts. And just one of these led to the final 0-1 and the signing could only have been Cassano, who has returned to express himself on important levels, perhaps even as a national team. More than the talent of the Bari, however, the flop of Naples, in its second consecutive defeat after that of Turin, makes news. A heavy knockout, which could be worth the engagement of Inter and the approach of Fiorentina, as well as, ça va sans dire, the departure from Rome and Juventus. It's still too early to talk about a crisis, but the Azzurri certainly aren't doing well. And to think that Benitez, who perhaps had picked up on something the day before, fielded the best formation, sparing only Hamsik in view of Dortmund. Ironically the Slovakian then came on in the second half, but he had to leave the field after just 10 minutes with an injury still to be assessed.
The top Azzurri players betrayed, from Higuain (in any case the most dangerous of his team, given the two great saves he forced Mirante to) to Callejon, via Pandev and Insigne. A great team can make up for the evening by not one or two big players, but four are a bit too many, especially if you are facing a rather inspired opponent. Cassano gave shots of great class, but in general all of Parma proved to be on point. Well managed the first half, the Emilians then took courage in the second half, when they realized the difficulties of Napoli. Apart from a fake goal from Higuain (rightly canceled for offside) and a free kick from Mertens, the Azzurri kept the ball longer, but without ever making themselves really dangerous. Parma on the other hand, after having touched the net with Felipe, found it with Cassano, good at making the most of the spaces left by Benitez's men (81'). Napoli thus leaves the San Paolo with a bad and dangerous defeat, a bad encouragement for the difficult (and decisive!) European away match in Dortmund. Thinking about it, the only good news of Saturday's blue comes from the Westfallen Stadion, where the gialloneri collected a resounding 0-3 from Bayern Munich. Borussia may be angrier, but they have once again shown that they are far from unbeatable.
