Inter cries, Napoli celebrates but changes coach. Bittersweet evening for Italian football, with the Azzurri chasing Ancelotti despite the round of 3 and Conte's Nerazzurri eliminated and relegated to the Europa League. So it wasn't enough for Barcelona to leave Messi at home and field a wholly experimental 5-2-XNUMX: the pressure ended up weighing too much on Inter's legs, forced to bow down in front of their fans after savoring the scent of qualification.
On nights like this, performance anxiety can play tricks on you, especially when the others have nothing to lose and winning becomes more of an obligation than a feat. And so it happens to find yourself down by a goal after having missed at least three and then, despite a draw achieved right at the end of the first half, to pass a recovery in the opposing half without however being able to hit, finally suffering the most classic of hoaxes. If we then add Borussia's 2-1 win over Slavia Prague to this, a burning elimination comes out, precisely because it was avoidable.
“We had the opportunities to win, we lacked that pinch of cynicism and precision to make what we created come true – Conte's bitter comment. – I have little to reproach the players, they gave everything. We missed the goal, then we conceded the 2-1 which killed us from all points of view. For the performance we deserved something more, I'm also sorry for the fans who pushed us from start to finish. Now we need to roll up our sleeves, keep working, get up and continue on our way. It's a difficult moment for us, there are two games left and then the break comes. I'm not thinking about the transfer market, I'm thinking about recovering some players…”.
A haunted match at San Siro, with Inter close to scoring on three occasions (D'Ambrosio, Biraghi, Lukaku) and instead punished by Carles Perez, one of the many reserves chosen by Valverde for an apparently unpretentious evening (23') . Shortly afterwards the wheel seemed to turn, with Barça eating up the 2-0 with Lenglet and the Nerazzurri equalizing with Lukaku, splendidly served by Lautaro, at the end of the half (44').
It seemed the prelude to an assault recovery and in fact it was: a pity however that Conte's team, despite the opportunities they had (above all those of Lukaku, unfortunate first in kicking Neto and then in stretching a ball too far very greedy), failed to find the 2-1 goal, ending up instead to suffer it from the baby phenomenon Ansu Fati, very good at finding the bottom corner and freezing Handanovic (86 ').
And given that no gifts have arrived from Dortmund, here is the elimination from the Champions League and relegation to the Europa League, a competition that Inter, once their anger has gotten rid of, will still be able to face with stimuli and prospects.
The other great news of the evening comes from Naples and certainly not for the success against Genk: the 4-0 earned qualification for the round of XNUMX but did not save Ancelotti's bench, officially sacked by De Laurentiis after a face-to-face (rather short, however) at the Vesuvio hotel.
“Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli has decided to revoke Mr. Carlo Ancelotti's position as technical manager of the first team – it was read at 23.38 pm on the club's official website. – The relationships of friendship, esteem and mutual respect between the club, its president Aurelio De Laurentiis and Carlo Ancelotti remain intact”.
Thus, the statements made by the coach a few hours earlier, immediately after the victory over the Belgians, where he said he was confident about the continuation of the season, become even more bitter. Obviously, it was a question of made-up phrases, because De Laurentiis, as anticipated yesterday, had already decided: via Ancelotti, inside Gattuso. Rino is expected in the city today to sign the contract, after which he will have to take charge of a situation that is as complex as it is stimulating.
However, he will have the opportunity to play for the Champions League, given the uneventful success of his team over the unfortunate Genk: a 4-0 signed by Milik (hat-trick in the 3', 26' and 38' from a penalty) and Mertens (75' again from the penalty spot) which does not allow replies and which confirms, if needed, all the quality of a team evidently much stronger than what the rankings say. The run-up begins on Saturday against Parma, about 24 hours before Inter tries to forget the disappointment on the Fiorentina pitch. It won't be easy but it must be done: disappointments can also strengthen…
