Milan stumbles, Rome and Inter smile. The first three races of the fourth day have already offered a rather big surprise, viz the equal of the Rossoneri on the Sassuolo field. A 0-0 that even goes well for the Italian champions, saved in the first half by the usually great Maignan, capable of saving a penalty from a specialist like Berardi, who then went out due to injury. It was the Devil's worst performance of the season, partly due to Pioli's evidently excessive turnover (as many as 5 changes compared to Saturday against Bologna), much due to a bad day that could even be there, especially in August: the problem is that the others don't wait and so Milan sees themselves overtaken by Roma and also by Inter, up until yesterday behind by one point.
The Nerazzurri will thus start in the lead derbies on Saturday, given that the match at San Siro with Cremonese turned out to be, as expected, quite simple. It was the goals of Correa (12'), Stretcher (38', splendid volley) e Lautaro (76'), before that okereke made a good one only for the scores (90 '), and so Inzaghi can smile and prepare for the big match against Milan with an extra pinch of serenity: a scenario that is anything but obvious after the defeat against Lazio and has instead become a reality .
Who is better than all, however, is Mourinho's Rome, in command alone after the clear success on Monza, obviously waiting for Napoli's response. To drag the Giallorossi to first place was the most awaited man, that Paulo Dybala welcomed like a king and still without a goal: until last night, of course, because his signature shines above all on the 3-0 win at the Olimpico. Author double, that of Joya, in particular the first goal (18', great powerful and precise left foot), while the second was a tap-in (32') as easy as it is indicative of a hitherto unknown competitive rage. The final stamp placed it Ibanez head, before Mourinho allowed himself the luxury of giving his tops a rest.
Juventus-Spezia (20.45, Dazn and Sky)
Attention now shifts to today's matches, with the big calls to answer present after the victories of Roma and Inter, but also to take advantage of Milan's misstep. The speech is particularly true for Juve, which after the draws with Sampdoria and Roma must necessarily reconnect the thread with victory, absent from the first day. The match with Speziamoreover, it acts as a buffer for the creepy Fiorentina-Psg duo, which is why any result other than 3 points is not even to be taken into consideration. Of course, the Ligurians don't think so and arrive at the Stadium strong with an excellent start (4 points, only one less than the Lady) and a mental lightness that can make them very dangerous, obviously in the event of a wrong approach. “It's an important match, more difficult to prepare mentally than the one with Roma – warned Allegri -. We will have to attack it from the first minute and to do so we will need the right approach, these 3 points must be brought home".
Allegri rejoices: Paredes is from Juve
However, the tight calendar will make some turnover inevitable, net of the usual absences that impoverish the squad. The Juventus coach find Di Maria, even if only for the bench, and is ready to rotate men after the good performance against Roma. His 4-3-3 will see Szczesny in goal, De Sciglio, Gatti, Bremer and Danilo in defence, Rabiot, Locatelli and Miretti in midfield, Cuadrado, Vlahovic and Kean in the offensive trident, all waiting to welcome Paredes, in fact a new Juve player: the agreement with the PSG is total (loan with the right to buy linked to certain conditions), so much so that the Argentine will undergo a first part of medical visits today in Paris, before joining his new team-mates tomorrow.
Gotti, forced to give up the suspended Ekdal, will try to play with a 3-5-2 with Dragowski between the posts, Caldara, Kiwior and Nikolaou in the back, Gyasi, Agudelo, Sala, Bastoni and Reca in the midfield, Strelec and Nzola in attack.
Naples-Lecce (20.45, Dazn)
The other challenge of the evening is that of Maradona, where Spalletti's Napoli will receive the newly promoted Lecce. Race, on paper, with no particular story, but the Apulians, albeit within the friendly walls of the Via del Mare, have already managed to put Inter are in trouble, demonstrating that they know how to exploit the declines of the big companies. In short, a vigorous performance from the Azzurri will be needed, decidedly better than that of Florence, which appeared subdued compared to the previous ones.
Spalletti, yesterday in press silence, hopes to see again the Naples of the first versions, hit the news both for the quality of the interpreters (Kvaratskhelia above all) and for the choral maneuver, perhaps the best seen so far, in any case what matters most to him is to find victory again, especially as the next two races will be against Lazio and Liverpool, not exactly easy opponents.
Mendes insists on bringing in Ronaldo, but the deal has faded
In addition to Lecce's objectively lower level, the blue coach could be given a hand by the end of market rumors about Osimhen and, consequently, about Cristiano Ronaldo. Yes, because Manchester United officially bought Antony from Ajax for 100 million, effectively leaving the Nigerian, however happy to stay in Naples. In parallel the CR7 speech also ends, although Jorge Mendes tried to separate the two operations, however receiving a negative response from De Laurentiis: the Portuguese's salary is too high, but above all the offensive department is too well supplied, which includes, in addition to Osimhen, also Raspadori, Simeone, Kvaratskhelia , Lozano and Politano.
So the priority returns to being the match against Lecce, which Spalletti will face with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Meret in goal, Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Kim and Mario Rui in defence, Anguissa and Lobotka in midfield, Politano, Raspadori and Kvaratskhelia behind lone striker Osimhen. The same game system also for Baroni, who will try to follow up on the point won with Empoli by relying on Falcone between the posts, Gendrey, Tuia, Baschirotto and Pezzella in the back, Askildsen, Hjulmand and Gonzalez in the midfield, Strefezza, Ceesay and Di Francesco in attack.
