It hasn't happened for seven years. In fact, to find Milan, Inter and Juventus defeated in the same round, we have to go back to the 2015/16 season, to the sixth matchday to be precise, when the Rossoneri, Nerazzurri and Bianconeri lost against Genoa, Fiorentina and Naples. Other times, no doubt, yet back in the news on an incredible Sunday, in which Pioli, Inzaghi and Allegri had to bow to Spalletti, Sottil and Palladino, therefore in Naples, Udinese and Monza. And if we add Atalanta's victory over Mourinho's Roma to this, an almost unique picture emerges, which gives a good idea of a championship that is as crazy and fun as ever.
Milan-Naples 1-2, Politano and Simeone launch the Azzurri
Let's start with the super challenge at San Siro between Milan and Naples, which saw the Azzurri prevail thanks to goals from Politano (55' from a penalty) and Simeone (78'). Therefore, Giroud's paw in the 69th minute, who seemed to have steered the match towards a draw, was useless: Cholito's header ended every discussion, giving Spalletti a very heavy victory both in terms of the standings (Naples are now first together to Atalanta) and morals. To tell the truth, Milan played well, especially in the first half which would have deserved to go ahead if Meret hadn't saved with two great saves on Giroud and Krunic.
In the second half, however, Napoli knew how to get off to a strong start and in the 50th minute they found the right episode with Kvaratskhelia, good at obtaining the penalty (foul by Dest) transformed by Politano. The Rossoneri didn't give up and after coming close to equalizing with Messias (another great save by Meret) they found him with Giroud, at the end of a splendid action started by De Ketelaere and finished by Hernandez, before the Frenchman's tap-in. However, Simeone took care of ruining the Devil's comeback plans, very good at transforming a cross from Mario Rui into a poisoned dart for Maignan, who was absolutely innocent. The last thrill came from Kalulu, hitting the crossbar with the goal wide open a few minutes from the end: it would have been 2-2, instead Napoli is celebrating, first and more and more launched towards the Scudetto dream.
De Laurentiis: "Victory of tenacity, let's enjoy it!"
“A victory of suffering and tenacity – commented via Twitter by Aurelio De Laurentiis -. Let's enjoy this wonderful match! Go Napoli forever!!". “This Napoli has a lot of quality, but that's not all: it's also effort, sacrifice and desire to win – continued Simeone, hero of the match -. Scudetto? We live every day with the desire to improve, we are a young group and we want to give everything, we only think about that".
Pioli: "When you play so well you can't lose..."
Opposite climate at Milan, where the wounds are licked after a defeat that is difficult to digest, by virtue of a performance that lives up to expectations, despite Leao's absence. “When a team plays like this they can't lose, but we'll learn from this evening to be more concrete – Pioli's analysis -. We lost because we didn't put the determination needed in both areas, despite a better performance than Napoli. It's a pity we lost the unbeaten run with a performance like this, it's difficult to attribute anything to the defence, there's more regret for having only scored one goal”.
Udinese-Inter 3-1, Inzaghi under accusation again for the substitutions
We had presented the away game in Udine as a very important exam for Inter, who are called to win in order to definitively end the crisis of a few weeks ago. However, the answer was disastrous, because the nerazzurri fell disastrously under the blows of Sottil, very good at building (together with that old fox Marino) a young but tough team, capable of putting down the opponents both from an athletic and technical point of view .
Without the due compliments to the Friulians, however, it is right to shift the focus to Inzaghi, guilty of at least questionable match management: the substitutions of Mkhitaryan and Bastoni in the 28th minute of the first half were sensational because they were booked, as was that of Dzeko (the best of his own) for an evanescent Correa. The worst move, however, came in the 79th minute with the entry of De Vrij in place of Acerbi, given that the Dutchman played a negative role in the episode that led to Bijou's goal, decisive for Udinese's victory. The Inter people have thus relived a film already seen with Lazio, Milan and Bayern, or rather seeing their team collapse as soon as they meet a level opponent, or in any case healthier.
Inzaghi defends himself: “Changes? they were admonished…”
“We are unable to give continuity, there are three away games in a row in which we take the lead and lose 3-1, this is not good – sighed Inzaghi – We certainly had to do more and better, I changed Bastoni and Mkhitaryan because they were booked and because Udinese won all the duels, a jolt to change things. They approached better despite our initial goal, we have to meditate on this bad defeat because it is certainly deserved".
Monza-Juventus 1-0, Allegri increasingly on the grill
The other clamorous defeat of the day is that of Juventus, also beaten by Monza (ex) bringing up the rear. Historic ko that of Brianteo, because it sees the landlords conquer the first 3 points of their history in Serie A, demonstrating a Lady in the lowest terms, who appeared almost in disarray. The alibi of absences is still there, but it gets weaker, defeat after defeat: it's okay that several important players are missing, but Monza didn't steal anything, indeed on balance they could have taken the lead earlier, while the bianconeri they have practically never been able to create dangers.
In the viewfinder, and it's nothing new, there is always Allegri, especially after the various statements (some not authorized by the company) released in recent days. The Juventus people are now clamoring for his head and the club, despite the usual denials, does not know how to move, a prisoner of a contract that is too onerous to be torn up. Angel Di Maria ends up keeping Max company in the dock, awaited as the savior of the country and protagonist instead of a gesture of reaction as stupid as it is harmful: the expulsion left Juve in 10 for more than a time, moreover the it will prevent us from being there both against Bologna and, almost certainly, against Milan.
Allegri suspended, Deputy Landucci speaks: "The expulsion affected the game"
“We certainly need to do better, but the expulsion conditioned the match – underlined Landucci, assistant to the suspended Allegri -. Di Maria was harassed and he fell for it, we know that Izzo is a player who uses these tactics, even if they tell me that the expulsion was fair. It's time to chat a little and make facts, it was difficult to get up after Wednesday's bad blow. This had an impact, but they are still excuses and we don't need them now: we have to get up and pedal".
Roma-Atalanta 0-1: Gasp enjoys, Mourinho sent off and furious
Surprise results ended Sunday with the victory of Gasperini's Atalanta, capable of conquering the Olimpico and taking first place in the standings, albeit in cohabitation with Napoli. Prestigious success for the Goddess, who has now become cynical and ruthless like her greats: the paradox, in fact, is that she has managed to reach certain peaks only now and not in the years of football show business.
"Wearing the pink jersey is already a great satisfaction, even if we know we won't win the Giro" Gasperini explained with satisfaction using a cycling metaphor, but Scalvini's goal (35') confirms yet another excellent job done with the young players, despite quite evident differences of views with the new ownership.
The atmosphere at home in Rome is decidedly more tense, where they have to deal with a heavy defeat for the team's ambitions, moreover in one of the best performances of the season, net of the value of the opponent. Mourinho, sent off for protests in the second half (he won't be on the bench against Inter), didn't take it well at all, as can be seen from his statements.
“It was the easiest match to win, we had control for 90′ – the thought of the Special One -. There was a very clear penalty on Zaniolo in the first half, I tried to talk to Chiffi after the match and asked him why he didn't boo it. If he tells me that there's never a penalty if the player doesn't throw himself on the ground, then I have to change the attitude with my players and tell them to throw themselves, otherwise they won't give it to us…”.
Now two weeks off, (although most of the players will be busy traveling around the world with the national teams), after which we will dive into the last tour de force of the calendar year, before making way for the World Cup. It will be better to take a deep breath, at least for those who will be able to do so, because then a month without breaks will begin, in which the first verdicts will come out, in one sense or another.
