We are still alive. Inter and Napoli pass the Barcelona and PSG exams unscathed and forcefully relaunch their respective candidacies towards the round of 1, at this point closer than one might think on the eve. The double 1-XNUMX that came out of San Siro and San Paolo keeps the Nerazzurri in second place and launches the Azzurri even into first place: put like this, Ancelotti should smile more than Spalletti, instead it is the Tuscan coach who sees more light.
His Inter have a 3-point lead over Tottenham which means two things: mathematical qualification in the event of a win or draw in the next direct match in London, but also the possibility of qualifying by beating PSV (probably already eliminated) on the last day at San Siro. On the other hand, the group of Napoli is much more enigmatic, which sees four teams in just 2 points: merit of the same as San Paolo, agreed, but above all of the sensational victory of Red Star over Liverpool, which puts even the Serbs back in the running.
But let's go in order and let's start from Inter, capable of emerging unscathed from the match against the Martians of Barça thanks to the usual goal in the final by captain Icardi. The Argentine put a very difficult game back on its feet that the Catalans seemed to have won by now with Malcom, who scored a few minutes after his entry (83 '). The paw of the Brazilian had legitimized an evident technical dominance, stopped only by a great Handanovic and by the imprecision of Barça, made even more naive than usual by the never banal absence of Messi (only grandstand).
But 4' after the 0-1 draw, Icardi took the chair, capable of optimizing one of the very few balls touched to the max: after all, he doesn't need many to hurt his opponents and Ter Stegen also noticed it yesterday , shot under the legs after an assist from Vecino, another regular at the end of the game.
"The synthesis of everything was his gesture after the 1-1, he ran to goal to take the ball giving an important signal - Spalletti complimented - It was a game of great effort, they are very strong but we had courage, we wanted to make our audience experience emotions and we are happy to have succeeded".
Now the qualification speech is rather downhill, with a fairly outlined group and the possibility of going to Wembley to play for two out of three results.
On the other hand, everything is more complicated for Napoli, who however can satisfactorily close the PSG chapter. In fact, the two matches with the French ended in a draw but the Azzurri had the merit of scoring more away goals, thus ending the direct clashes in their favor. This is not a trivial detail: in such a balanced group, indeed, it could prove to be even decisive.
Red Star then took care of messing up the forecasts, which with the 2-0 win against Liverpool substantially overturned the hierarchies of the group. However, the next round could already prove to be decisive (positively of course) for Napoli: a victory at the San Paolo against the Serbs would mathematically qualify them both in the event of a draw between PSG and Liverpool and with an English success, while the possible imposition of the French would postpone everything to the last day, when the Azzurri, however, would present themselves at Anfield with two results out of three.
That's why, with a cool head, yesterday's 1-1 must be taken with a smile, especially since Tuchel's men had started better and ended the first half ahead thanks to Bernat's goal in the photo finish (46'). The defeat would have greatly complicated Napoli's path, which in fact in the second half played everything and cornered a great Buffon, who returned to the European limelight with a performance worthy of his name. However, he too had to surrender to Insigne's penalty (62 '), very cold in transforming it despite the enormous pressure.
“In the first half we were too cautious and PSG had control of the match – Ancelotti's analysis – In the second half, on the other hand, we managed to express our game and grab an important draw, on the day of the draw we certainly wouldn't have expected to be first at this point. It's a very balanced group, Red Star has shown that anything can really happen”.
Appointment postponed to November 28, when Inter and Napoli will take the field as masters of their own destiny: it's not yet enough to celebrate but it's certainly something...
