Let's call it a Juventus "mini-escape". The success against Parma, combined with Inter's draw in Lecce, consolidates the primacy of the bianconeri, now +4 behind their Nerazzurri rivals. After last week's gap, complete with the winter title, here's a further step forward towards the ninth consecutive Scudetto, but above all a nice hook for Conte's team, forced to deal with the acceleration of the Italian champions . Not only that: Inter must be very attentive to Lazio, virtually second in light of the game less and more and more launched towards the top rankings.
Reducing everything to Ronaldo alone would undoubtedly be unfair, but it is certain however that someone like this shifts the balance quite a bit: Parma noticed it, "sick" by a brace, but in general it has been at least two months since the Portuguese returned to its levels, as demonstrated by the 11 goals scored in the last 7 games. Yesterday he was the one to shoulder his teammates, who appeared decidedly less brilliant than on Wednesday, when they had buried Udinese in the Coppa Italia without him.
But the championship is another thing and Parma, even without Gervinho and forced to deal with yet another injury to Inglese, made life for Juve much more difficult, compacting themselves in front of Sepe and thus preventing the realization of the "sarism". In cases like these, the risk of getting nervous and flopping is quite high, except when you have a great champion in your team who can make the difference even on his own. If a pinch of luck is added to this, you find yourself unlocking a mangy match two minutes from the interval, and it doesn't matter that Ronaldo's shot was decisively deflected by Darmian (43 ').
However, Parma didn't give up, indeed at the beginning of the second half they immediately put things back in order with Cornelius, who had just come on for English: a header following a corner and 1-1 (55'). Once again a complicated match, once again Ronaldo on the shields. The Portuguese, well served by Dybala, shot down Sepe from close range (58'), giving himself his 16th goal in the league (the top scorer Immobile however, at 23, stays away) and, above all, 3 very important points to his teammates . The final didn't go as smooth as Sarri would have liked, especially when the specially observed Kulusevski, up until then a non-paying spectator, served Sprocati the equalizer, but luckily for him De Ligt put a piece in it, blocking the 2- 1 final.
“It was a less clean success than usual – admitted the Juventus coach. – We didn't close it when we could and then we suffered. In any case, Ronaldo is a champion, one of those who know how to solve various problems. Am I more afraid of Inter or Lazio? One of the two is in amazing shape, let's hope it doesn't last long…”. The reference, evidently, is to Inzaghi's team, certainly not to Conte's, forced to deal with a draw that takes them away from the top.
Bad misstep that of the Nerazzurri, stopped on the draw by the usual "kill-the-big" Lecce. In fact, the Apulians struggle with their direct competitors, but when it comes to raising the bar they don't hold back, as demonstrated by yesterday's match and the previous matches against Juve and Milan. Having said that, it is fair to underline Inter's subdued performance, one of the worst this season. A swallow doesn't make spring, all right, but given that it's the second consecutive tie after the one with Atalanta, it's at least right to ask yourself about Conte's momentum, evidently short of petrol.
“Unfortunately we can't afford to play at a slow pace, when that happens we become a normal team – commented the Nerazzurri coach. – If we go at cruising speed we don't have the skills to win, we should have been more determined and bad in the goal area. This is a difficult month, it's not easy to manage things during the market. The club is making its assessments, I'm the coach and I have to improve the players I have".
However, it is clear that the various Eriksen and Giroud would be very useful for him, especially in matches in which the owners do not turn and the bench becomes decisive. It should also be said that just a substitution seemed to be able to give Inter the 3 points: Bastoni in fact, who had recently replaced Godin, headed off Biraghi's cross, bringing his team up 1-0 (72 '). Short advantage however, because in the 77th minute Mancosu found the tap-in on Majer's assist, bringing the match back to a draw.
A result that never changed, despite Falco making Handanovic shiver with a free-kick that splintered the post. Now Juve are 4 points behind and Lazio, in light of the game to recover against Verona, can move into second place, forcing Inter to chase them too. Scenario that Conte will not like at all, never as now clinging to the hopes of the market.
