All postponed. The three draws in Naples, Inter and Lazio leave their respective goals unchanged, from the Scudetto, which Juve could only have won in the event of an Azzurri knockout, to the Champions League race, which has become even more complex. In fact, the all-Nerazzurri 0-0 draw between Inter and Atalanta keeps Milan in fourth place, albeit only thanks to direct clashes with Gasperini, Lazio's 2-2 draw with Sassuolo also relaunches Roma, the only one to win among the suitors for the precious European placement.
The big match at San Siro, however, greatly reinforces the candidacy of the players from Bergamo: in fact, they are in the best shape for this 7-day mini-tournament which will establish the final verdicts. For their part, Inter, despite having missed out on a victory that would have allowed them to secure third place, can be satisfied with the point obtained, partly because the opponent, beyond the name, is a tough one, a a bit because the classification, also and above all due to the difficulties of the pursuers, is more than positive.
“It was a match decided by both teams and the behavior of the players was correct – Spalletti's analysis – I go by the team's performance, not by the results. I'm serene if he plays good football, I don't go after the goal just to cheer or kill someone and seeing that he played well I'm very serene. Icardi? I'm not talking about him, there are also the others...".
Yet it is always Maurito who holds the court, even when he plays a substantially anonymous match. San Siro, as was to be expected, was divided in this regard: on one side the hostile choirs of the Curva Nord, on the other the applause (and booing for the ultras) from the rest of the stadium. In the middle of a match that saw Atalanta play better and Inter have the best chances, especially in the first half, when Vecino, Politano and Icardi himself could have found the splitting goal. Instead, it ended with a draw that can be good for both, especially since the others, as mentioned above, certainly don't sparkle.
Lazio, for example, missed a great chance to get back close to Milan and are now preparing for the direct match at San Siro with the awareness that they can only win, otherwise they will raise the white flag again this year. The 2-2 at the Olimpico leaves behind a nice trail of referee poisons but this time it's not Lazio but Sassuolo who are complaining, punished by Abisso (that of Fiorentina-Inter and D'Ambrosio's pseudo arm in the 97th minute) with a rigor destined to create controversy.
“The referee was right, the arm was very wide – replied Inzaghi – I'm disappointed with the result but very satisfied with the performance. Champions? By winning the recovery we'd be fourth, there's great confidence…”.
What, on the other hand, seems to be missing from Ancelotti's Napoli, who after the embarrassment of Empoli risked making up for another one at home with Genoa, assuming that this 1-1 draw does not fall within the category. In fact, despite the numerical superiority for a time and a half (Sturaro sent off in the 25th minute), the Azzurri were unable to get the better of Prandelli's men, who were even able to equalize Mertens' initial goal (34') with a splendid right foot on a volley by Lazovic (47') and making himself dangerous on several occasions.
Napoli also had theirs but frankly more was expected: with these premises the clash with Arsenal is even more frightening. “If we play like this, it will be very difficult in London, we defend badly – acknowledged Ancelotti – Luckily there are 4 days left until the Europa League and things can be fixed, we have to go back to doing things right”.
However, the point collected prevented Juve from celebrating the Scudetto as early as yesterday evening but perhaps it went better for the Bianconeri: the party will be able to start on Saturday in Ferrara, where it will be enough for the Allegri's to collect even just one draw. And the championships on the field, even if announced months ago, are definitely better than those on the sofa.
