And now it's Rome's turn. Inter's victory, as well as responding to Milan, serves above all to lengthen the distance between fourth and fifth place, effectively splitting the standings. Ranieri's team, making their encore debut on the Giallorossi bench, has the task of beating Empoli (20.30 pm) and preventing the Champions League from turning into a "Milanese question".
The Nerazzurri can thus prepare with more serenity for the week that will see them engaged in two fundamental matches: the second leg of the Europa League against Eintracht and Sunday evening's derby. Seven days to decide a season, or at least to direct it: in the meantime, however, Spalletti can breathe thanks to yesterday's 3 points, which arrived at the end of an afternoon that was much more painful than the 2-0 final. Goals from Politano (67') and Gagliardini (78') in fact masked a subdued performance, made even more difficult by post-Frankfurt fatigue and by the various (and very numerous) defections.
In addition to the usual Icardi ("I remain optimistic but if we arrive at the damages request it would be a great failure", the alarm raised by Marotta) and the announced Perisic, Brozovic and Miranda also stopped, sensationally complicating Spalletti's management. In short, this against Spal will not go down in history as a success to remember but perhaps, at the end of the championship, it will acquire another dimension.
"We let ourselves be strangled by this difficulty that sometimes happens to us, but we lose what our qualities are and we become more shy and insecure - Spalletti's analysis - We're fine with being excited at San Siro, but you're a footballer you absolutely have to win this match from Inter and everything becomes more normal and simpler. We have fire inside, every now and then it becomes a flame…”.
However, the 3 points are archived and allow us to look to the future with more serenity: Milan remain close at hand and the Romans, at the moment, at a safe distance. Of course, if Lazio's misstep (1-1 in Florence) is already history, this is not the case for Roma-Empoli, which remains to be written. The match then takes on even more importance due to the debut of Ranieri, called to revive an environment destroyed by the defeat in the derby and by the elimination of Oporto, decisive for the "expulsion" of Di Francesco.
“The next two games will be very important – thundered Sir (or Sor, depending on your point of view) Claudio – All the players have to give more because if we are in this situation it is because they haven't brought out everything they have inside. The reasons do not interest me, the speeches are zero. He paid Eusebio (Di Francesco, ed), but now they have to answer to them on the field. They have to show us what they can do and how they want to do it, I need people who show they want to make a difference".
Answers are already expected this evening against an Empoli hungry for points and therefore ready to sell their skin dearly, perhaps taking advantage of the heavy atmosphere of the Olimpico. Ranieri knows that his effect will calm spirits but also that, in the event of a wrong approach, the public could quickly get impatient. However, the few days to work and the numerous absences (Dzeko, Kolarov and Fazio disqualified, Under, De Rossi, Pellegrini, Manolas and Pastore injured) prevent him from putting his hand on the team, if not to stop the emergency.
His first Roma-bis will wear the 4-2-3-1 with Olsen in goal, Florenzi, Marcano, Juan Jesus and Santon in defense, Nzonzi and Cristante in midfield, El Shaarawy, Zaniolo and Kluivert behind the fake nueve Perotti. Classic 3-5-2 instead for Iachini, who will look for salvation points with Dragowski between the posts, Veseli, Silvestre and Dell'Orco in the back, Di Lorenzo, Acquah, Bennacer, Krunic and Pasqual in the midfield, Caputo and Farias in attack.
Ancelotti's Napoli is also an interested spectator, albeit with a touch of detachment, who, however, at this rate, can even put second place at risk. More than Juve, now 18 points away, it is better to watch their backs from Milan and Inter, respectively 6 and 7 points behind: still many, please, but few considering the rankings of a few weeks ago, which saw them so far from not even be taken into consideration. But the Azzurri are the faded relatives of those who, in the first round, seemed to be able to annoy Juve, as demonstrated by the only 2 victories obtained in the last 7 games.
A success in Reggio Emilia would have done good for the morale of the troop, instead a faded draw has arrived which confirms all the problems of the last few days: Napoli have lost their hunger and this, with 11 games to go, could become a big problem. Luckily Insigne made it 1-1 a few minutes from the end (86'), effectively canceling Sassuolo's advantage thanks to Berardi (52'), otherwise there would have been big trouble. Ancelotti, in mourning for the death of his friend coach Bucci, preferred not to attend the usual post-match conference, however it was Insigne himself who made statements which, you can bet, will make people talk a lot.
“Here I'm always criticized – thundered Lorenzinho – I don't want to make controversy but I'm the only one who is always targeted when he doesn't score or doesn't perform at a level, this thing hurts me a bit. I can't do more than that, I'll always try to give 100% as long as I'm here". The final comment confirms what Naples have been thinking for some time: the cycle is running out and at the end of the season, one way or another, they'll draw conclusions. And no one, absolutely no one, can really feel comfortable.
