THEInter continues its run, only the Milan. The nineteenth matchday, the last of 2021, ends with the Nerazzurri's victory over Turin, which is worth a turn at the maxi quota of 46 points. Pioli's Rossoneri remain attached to the train thanks to the success of Empoli, while the Napoli falls sensationally against Spezia, thus sinking to minus 7 in the standings.
Also noteworthy are the missteps of Roma e Fiorentina, unable to take advantage of Atalanta's draw and shorten the pace in the Champions League area, where instead the good run-up of the Juve, the only one to take advantage of Gasperini's decline together with Lazio, victorious in Venice and a little less detached than before.
In short, a Wednesday full of twists and turns, with only one great certainty: Simone Inzaghi's Inter won for the seventh consecutive time, the sixth without conceding a goal. Compared to the last few games it was a less spectacular success, after all Juric's Turin is not Cagliari or Salernitana, but paradoxically these are precisely the points that make the difference between winning and just taking the applause.
On a cold evening, with the potentially lethal mix of tiredness and holidays, the Nerazzurri took the stakes with a sacrifice match, in which they suffered from the aggressiveness of the Bull, without however losing their usual solidity. A nice goal from Dumfries (30'), in the third center in the last four matches, and the usual desire to fight for every ball were decisive, so much so that the grenades, despite a vigorous second half, never shot on goal.
“We played an important match, we were good at preparing for it, risking little or nothing – the analysis by Inzaghi -. We missed the second goal in the first half, but we're very satisfied with how we finished this year, now let's regain physical and mental energy before starting again. It's easy to say today that Inter are a battleship and are the favourites, but I remember that in July the judgments weren't like that…”. Milan also closes with a smile, which thanks to Empoli's round victory remains in the leaders' wake, always 4 points behind.
Pioli can be satisfied, because the away match in Tuscany was very scary, in the light of an opponent who plays well and scores points, but also and above all of a physical and psychological decline which seemed difficult to arrest. Instead, the Rossoneri made a virtue of necessity, making up for the usual torrent of absences (yesterday Ibrahimovic was also missing) with a good show of character, combined with a tactical change that, perhaps, could also prove to be very important for the future.
Kessié's progress on the trocar has benefited the danger of the team, so much so that the Ivorian has even made a brace (12' and 42') decisive for the victory. In the middle the usual good Empoli, able to find the momentary 1-1 with Bajrami (18') and scare Maignan with Pinamonti. Not only that: Andreazzoli's team became extremely dangerous even at the start of the second half, hitting a sensational crossbar (Bajrami again) that could have changed the course of the match. The joker, on the other hand, was caught by Florenzi with a free kick (63'), before Hernandez (69') and Pinamonti (84', penalty for Bakayoko's arm) fixed the result on the final 2-4.
“This is a heavy victory, reacting like this with character and decision denotes the right mentality – commented by Pioli -. Here the only thing that counted was to win again, we needed it for the standings and for our confidence: we suffered, grit our teeth and played as a team, obtaining the result with great desire. What vote do we deserve for 2021? One up, we're proving to be competitive again, then the last step is always the most difficult”.
Napoli knows something about it, protagonist of even disconcerting ups and downs, which are compromising the dream of the Scudetto. The Azzurri were looking for continuity after the success in Milan and the match with Spezia at Maradona seemed just ideal, instead it was Thiago Motta who rejoiced, despite persistent rumors that by now take his exemption for granted (it would be sensational, but Maran is on pole to replace it).
Spalletti, on the other hand, doesn't have these problems, but it's clear that will have to exploit this stop to understand what his team is missing: injuries are an answer, but they can't be the only one, in the light of a sensational difference in performance between the first 11 days (10 wins and a draw) and the remaining 8 ( 2 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses).
Further narrowing the circle to the last 4 games shows how the Azzurri have lost even 3, all to Maradona: and if they could have been with Atalanta, this is not the case for Empoli and Spezia, where Napoli had the duty to win at the beyond the absences. Yesterday, ironically, he managed to succumb despite the fact that the Ligurians didn't even make a shot on goal: yes, because the decisive goal was an own goal from Juan Jesus, unfortunate in beating Ospina with a header into the wrong goal (37' ).
"We lost a bad game, because we played it for long stretches, but we weren't so good at closing some actions," he explained. Spalletti -. Now we go home and rest a bit, because lately we've suffered a little tiredness, after which we try to cheer up the team's morale, because it's actually a bit dejected, in this group finale we ran into a few crooked results too many. The ranking? We look both in front and behind, because if you don't win the games you have to win then the others jump on you…”.
Indeed, there is a risk, just think that on 6 January, immediately after the break, the Azzurri will go to Turin to face a Juve just 5 points behind, eager to shorten even to 2: sensational scenario if you think about what it was like the ranking just two or three weeks ago and instead became reality. To give Spalletti some breathing room, in addition to Atalanta, Rome and Fiorentina also thought about it, unable to win against Sampdoria and Verona.
It is above all the Mourinho's team to have disappointed, because the match against the blucerchiati seemed the ideal springboard to get back into the Champions League race, especially after the great success in Bergamo. Instead, the Giallorossi stumbled into a dull draw, moreover thwarting the advantage snatched by Shomurodov (72') due to a poorly managed corner, with the usual Gabbiadini quick to throw the ball into the net (80') and make it 1-1 .
Opposite script for Fiorentina, who instead grabbed the draw with Castrovilli (81') after being down for a long time, punished at the dawn of the match by a fine goal from Lasagna (17').
On balance therefore, in addition to the aforementioned Juve, only Lazio can celebrate in that area of the standings, which by winning in Venice can once again feel in the running, albeit with a gap that does not yet allow them to make proclamations. In the absence of Immobile, the team was dragged along by the usual Pedro (9'), Acerbi (48') and Luis Alberto (95'), thus giving 3 points to Sarri, despite the momentary 1-1 goal by Strong (30').
Now two weeks off, after which it will be time to take the field again, with a January which, between the championship, the Super Cup, the Italian Cup and the transfer market, promises to be hot, indeed boiling, like never before.
