A Sunday for strong hearts. The sixth day restarts after yesterday's advances and does so with a very rich menu, at all latitudes. It begins at lunchtime with Juventus-Sampdoria (12.30), continues at 18 with the capital derby between Lazio and Rome, ends in the evening with the Napoli-Cagliari postponement (20.45). In short, you certainly won't be bored also because they all have excellent reasons to win and no one not to. The bianconeri, for example, still have a very poor standings and know they cannot make a mistake in the match against Sampdoria, otherwise the good things done in Spezia last Wednesday will be canceled. “We have to play well and try to win: it's important for the standings and for taking the first 3 points at home – confirmed Allegri -. There will be changes, there's a need to manage energy, then we'll think about Chelsea. Our job is to do well, improve the players and bring home results. I prefer to be criticized but with a winning team, compassion is felt for the loser."
In short, total focus on the blucerchiati, without being distracted by the super-match against Chelsea on Wednesday (by the way, yesterday the Blues lost 1-0 at home against Manchester City). However, the Juventus coach will do some turnover, but certainly not out of snobbery: with such a clogged calendar, moreover, it cannot be done otherwise. His 4-4-2 will see Perin in goal, Cuadrado, Bonucci, De Ligt and Alex Sandro in defense, Bernardeschi, Bentancur, Locatelli and Chiesa in midfield, Morata and Dybala in attack. D'Aversa, fresh from the very heavy 0-4 draw against Napoli, will try to get back up with the same game system, with Audero between the posts, Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley and Augello in the back, Candreva, Thorsby, Ekdal and Damsgaard in the midfield , Caputo and Quagliarella offensive couple. The Milanese know that the time has not yet come to give the Lady up for dead, but it is clear that today their attention will be focused above all on Maradona, where Spalletti's Napoli will receive ex Mazzarri's Cagliari. The Azzurri are the only ones with full points and if they get their sixth victory in the championship today they would take back first place, giving yet another sign of strength to all their rivals. On paper, evidently, there should be no story, given that Napoli comes from a splendid 4-0 away win while Cagliari, despite the change of coach, showed major limitations at home with Empoli, but football, you know , often and willingly escapes any logic.
“We don't want to hide from anything – explained Spalletti -. That of the candidates for the first position is a condominium of seven teams, we want to take on the weight of our thousandths but we don't want the shares of the others, because they are the same. Then there are moments where you do better and others where you do worse, we have to be ready for anything." The coach tries to keep a low profile, also to avoid excessively inflaming an already hot city of him, but he knows very well that this type of match can make the difference between a "normal" championship and one destined to go down in history. Today's formation should be roughly that of Genoa, therefore 4-2-3-1 with Ospina in goal, Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Koulibaly and Mario Rui in defense, Fabian Ruiz and Anguissa in midfield, Politano (slight favorite over Lozano), Zielinski and Insigne behind the lone striker Osimhen. Mazzarri, former always beloved in the shadow of Vesuvius, will respond with a 4-4-2 with Cragno between the posts, Caceres, Ceppitelli, Godin and Lykogiannis in the back, Nandez, Marin, Strootman and Dalbert in the midfield, Joao Pedro and Keita in attack. THE
However, the climax of this Sunday's emotions will come from the Olimpico, where a derby that promises to be incandescent will take place. On the one hand, Mourinho's Roma, back from the victory over Udinese but forced to give up captain Pellegrini, on the other, Sarri's Lazio, which has failed to score 3 points since last August 28th. Tension is skyrocketing, also because "Mau and Mou" couldn't be more different, both on and off the pitch: the match between them, therefore, is a further element of interest in this derby number 179 (154 in Serie A ) already very rich of his own. “The derby is not a normal match, it's one of the most important matches in Europe – Sarri's speech -. It's an honor to play it, everyone as a child seeing a Lazio-Roma match or listening to it on the radio like I did when I was young, dreamed of being able to play it one day. So here we are and let's play it, find a very strong opponent, so we will need a good performance ”.
“Derbies are nice to play, they don't worry a coach because you don't have to motivate and be careful with more or less concentrated players – echoed the Special One -. I ask my parents to play to win the 3 points and leave the field with the feeling of having given everything. We know we can't always win, they have the same ambitions, but the attitude I want is the same as always." The derby is important regardless, but it is clear that in terms of the standings it would seem to be more so for Lazio, who would lose further ground in the Champions League in the event of a defeat. Sarri, after the (unsuccessful) turnover in Turin, will return to the 4-3-3 type with Reina in goal, Lazzari, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi and Hysaj in defense, Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva and Luis Alberto in midfield, Felipe Anderson , Immobile and Pedro in attack. However, a very heavy absence for Mourinho, forced to give up Pellegrini for the questionable expulsion on Thursday: the game system will however remain the 4-2-3-1, with Rui Patricio between the posts, Karsdorp, Mancini, Smalling and Calafiori in the backlog , Cristante and Veretout in the midfield, Zaniolo, Mkhitaryan and El Shaarawy behind the lone striker Abraham.
