La Rome takes the derby, Milan escapes to +9 on Juve. The Saturday of Serie A, completed by Empoli's 3-2 win over Torino, goes on record with two very heavy victories for the Giallorossi and Rossoneri, all just a few days before the match in the Europa League. But regardless of how it goes, there is a championship that is giving both more and more satisfactions: the Devil has reached his fifth consecutive victory (the seventh considering all the competitions), while the Lupa, in addition to having cut off the Lazio from the Champions League, he is only 2 points away from fourth place, even if they are still missing Frosinone – Bologna (12.30 pm, Dazn and Sky) e Atalanta - Cagliari (18pm, Dazn).
Rome – Lazio 1-0, Mancini defeats Lazio and sends DDR 2 points behind Bologna
The Capital derby promised sparks and so it was, even if the behavior of the players, fortunately, was better than that of some fans (tough clashes in the pre-match, with arrests, complaints and seizure of weapons of various kinds). Of course, Mancini could have saved himself the lap of honor under the Curva Sud by waving one anti-Lazio flag, but all in all these are derby skirmishes, decidedly more effective after a victory. Roma were looking for a success that had been missing since 20 March 2022 and found it with the aforementioned defender, who is very good at exploiting a corner from Dybala and to gore poor Mandas (42'). The goal a few moments before the break served to break the deadlock, but above all it allowed the Giallorossi to play a second half on the counterattacks, without the worry of necessarily scoring. Lazio poured into Roma's half of the pitch, but never managed to become truly dangerous, with the goal disallowed in Kamada (offside) as the only real emotion. Roma, on the other hand, net of a second-half throw-in (only 37% of ball possession and no shots on target for Lazio), went very close to doubling the score with El Shaarawy, but his shot hit Mandas' right post, thus leaving the result in the balance until the end. In short, the derby was decided Mancini's header, for a ranking that sees De Rossi's team in fifth place, just 4 points from Juve, 2 from Bologna and +5 on Atalanta, who however have a game to recover. There Lazio of Tudor, however, sinks 11 behind Thiago Motta's rossoblu and says goodbye, barring sensational twists, to a place in the Champions League: there is plenty of time to rebuild, but the seven games remaining at the end of the championship require maximum commitment, at least to achieve a European placement.
De Rossi rejoices: "I'm happy, but call me mister present"
“Winning a derby is always nice, but as a coach it's different because the defeat falls on us – he celebrated The Rossi – I asked the fourth man if the scoreboard had broken because time never passed, then the boys physically grabbed me to go under the curve, but it was their moment, not mine. The fans have always pushed us and this derby is for them too, it's been a long time since we won, there was a lot of anticipation and I'm very happy, but don't call me mister future, I prefer mister present, because I have never felt more present than this: I don't think about the rest, there is so much to do, I know that it's not over and I know that nothing will be forgiven me, I don't want to be pampered because I've been here a long time. Milan? We know him well and after this victory we will face him a little more relaxed."
Tudor: “We need time, but we look to the future with positivity”
"We are especially lacking up front, we were not clear and dangerous in our conclusions – Tudor's bitter analysis -. This Rome was too much for us at this time, we worked hard and it was there third race in seven days. Let's congratulate them and get back to work, I have to get to know the team and individuals better. We need to improve in everything to interpret this type of football with the backs and the front three pushing, even on a physical level we need to improve to raise the level of intensity. The idea was to be compact, but it wasn't easy: we struggled to attack them high up, in the in the first half we suffered from their physicality on the second balls, but they had more leg than us. I can't wait to work and prepare for the next game, I'm optimistic, but there are players who still interpret the role in a different way."
Milan – Lecce 3-0, Pioli: “We have found balance, now let's raise the bar”
Nice win for the too Milan, who beat Lecce with a clear 3-0 and moved to +9 on Juve, securing second place, albeit awaiting today's match between the Bianconeri and Fiorentina. The Rossoneri thus achieved their fifth consecutive championship success, confirming a moment of excellent form and sending a loud and clear message to Roma, their next opponent in the Europa League: Thursday evening will be a battle and the Devil will have many cards to play. The match against Lecce, to tell the truth, turned out to be simpler than expected, so much so that Pioli's team found themselves 2-0 up after just 20', thanks to goals from Pulisic (6', his performance was excellent as an attacking midfielder) and Giroud (20', header assisted by Adli). Krstovic, who was sent off in the 45th minute for a foul on Chukwueze, put the epitaph on Puglia's remaining hopes: at that point the match, to be honest, was already quite well underway, took a path of no return. Leao's goal in the 57th minute (another assist from Adli and great protests from Lecce due to the presence of Almqvist on the ground) allowed Pioli to start the round of changes, obviously with a view to the Europa League: on Thursday the bar will be much higher, but this Milan cannot and must not be afraid of anyone, not even De Rossi's highly successful Roma. “This is an important growth, it is not difficult to find the motivation because we have suffered, despite gritting our teeth – Pioli's thoughts -. We want to do everything we can to extend this positive moment, but this group has always remained cohesive without ever falling apart. The team is doing well and the boys realize it, which is why we have to give everything now: it is the decisive period of the season, we are well and we played the match we wanted, now let's focus on the Europa League because it is an important objective both for us and for for Rome".
Juventus – Fiorentina (20.45pm, Dazn)
Now the attention shifts to Sunday's matches, starting with the one in Turin between Juventus and Fiorentina. Both are returning from convincing victories over Lazio and Atalanta, but the Italian Cup bracket cannot erase the disappointments of the championship. The Bianconeri, in particular, have picked up only one victory in the last nine matches, falling from second place with a view to first place to a "dangerous" third place: Thiago Motta's Bologna is only 2 points away and by winning in Frosinone they would overtake them, forcing Allegri to respond with the same coin. In short, Tuesday's breath of fresh air, however vital, is not enough for this Juve, called to find success in a very delicate match, against an opponent capable of anything, for better or for worse. Italian's Fiorentina, in fact, is certainly not an example of continuity, but it can never be underestimated, otherwise it risks making a terrible impression. The comparison is quite stimulating, because the two coaches couldn't be more different: the pragmatic Allegri, a "resultist" to the core, will face one of the most extreme "players" in the championship, which suggests an evening of great emotions . This risks being the last Juventus-Fiorentina for both, but if Max's future is still to be deciphered (much will depend on the end of the season), Vincenzo's will almost certainly be far from Florence, so much so that the names of Palladino and Gilardino as possible replacements.
Allegri: “Our value is given by the ranking… The future? I only think about the objectives"
“Victories help because they give confidence and make you see things differently – explained Allegri -. Now we have eight championship games to find the points to reach the Champions League objective, obviously a positive result would help to see things from another point of view. We started with the aim of entering the Champions League and it wasn't easy, we achieved it despite having burned many points: we have to know that there will be difficulties from here to the end and one way or another we have to get there. I fear the fact that Fiorentina is an unscrupulous team, that offends a lot and attacks. There are many reasons for having gone through a difficult moment, but football always gives you a way to react. We have the opportunity to achieve our objective and we will try to get points with the clear idea that we have eight games to do so. My future? Our value is given by the field with the ranking, I only think about achieving the objectives."
Juventus – Fiorentina, the probable lineups
Juventus (3-5-2): Szczesny; Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; Cambiaso, McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Church, Vlahovic
Trainer: Allegri
Disqualified: Pogba, Beans
Unavailable: Owned
Fiorentina (4-2-3-1): Terracciano; Kayode, Milenkovic, Ranieri, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Mandragora; Nico Gonzalez, Beltran, Kouamé; Belotti
Trainer: Italian
Disqualified: None
Unavailable: Castrovilli
