A big match with reversed roles. Compared to last season, in fact, practically everything has changed, given that it is now there Juventus to fight for the scudetto while the Naples, in light of the defeat against Inter, is almost cut out. That 'almost' is linked precisely to tonight's match, because only a success in Turin would allow Mazzarri to keep a flame of hope alive, even if to date the Lady is the only one who can think of challenging Inter for the title. Inzaghi, not surprisingly, will support the Azzurri, in the hope that Allegri can slow down his run, thus allowing him to take off, Udinese permitting.
Juventus – Napoli (20.45pm, Dazn)
Both are played a lot, even if at the moment the objectives are different. For Juve, despite the ritual denials of its coach, this is it a championship match, because winning the 3 points would send a very strong signal to Inter, who would find themselves once again overtaken in the standings and forced to respond. However, Napoli too, beyond a title race which is unlikely to see them involved, has a lot to lose: the defeat against the Nerazzurri put Fourth place is at risk, now cohabited with Mourinho's Roma. The Special One is hoping for a gift from the Lady and then overtaking Fiorentina on Sunday, but the list of contenders for the final Champions League place is quite long and also involves the Viola themselves, the Bologna, the Atalanta , Lazio. In short, losing would not be a good deal for anyone, so the fear that the teams could play blocked is at least well-founded. On the other hand, there are times when you need to risk something more and this could fall into the category: Juventus and Napoli know the weight of the 3 points in question, so they will first have to try to win them.
Allegri warns: "There is a lot of euphoria, but let's not get too excited: the objective doesn't change"
“It's another direct clash five games from the end of the first round, then there will be the one with Roma at home and three complicated away games – explained Allegri -. The goal is to score more points of those done last year in the first round, there were 38, now we are at 33 and we have to overcome that threshold. There is a lot of euphoria in these last few weeks, but for us it is good to keep all the objectives in mind. I have already said the first, the second is to at least reach the top four and continue the growth path. We want to improve ourselves every day, but without getting excited, let's take one step at a time. Napoli are a team that have scored 17 points away from home, they have a very important record and we have only won once in the last seven against them. Years change, but the players are the same apart from Kim: the numbers achieved away from home and the performances prove it."
De Laurentiis stings Juve: "It's impossible to win every year without cheating"
De Laurentiis took care of warming up the evening with a poisoned dart, even without ever mentioning Juventus. “I promise you that what Spalletti did will be repeatable, but we have always said that you can't win every year except by cheating – the Italian president pointed out -. There are problems of satisfaction, of restlessness, as well as of strengthening the other teams, furthermore last year we also had that bit of luck that is always needed in life."
Mazzarri: “Juve will tell us where we are at. Referees? I'm not talking about it anymore."
“We all know what this challenge represents – underlined Mazzarri -. Napoli won the scudetto last year, Juve has always been one of the strongest Italian teams, it is a match of great importance, very important. We have to do it well, it will also help me understand if we have made certain progress. Soul is always needed in a team, these guys have already made me understand that they are starting to give it to me. The refereeing errors? I don't want to be the one who talks about it anymore, I won't do it next time either, the old Mazzarri has retired. I prefer to do like last Sunday and not even come to the conference, because I imagined we would only talk about that, while I would like to focus only on the team."
Juventus – Napoli, the lineups: Danilo and Locatelli as starters, Mazzarri confirms Natan as full-back
Allegri can definitely smile, because net of the long disqualifications of Pogba (by the way: yesterday the Federal Prosecutor's Office asked for a maxi-sentence of 4 years) and Fagioli, he finds all the missing pieces of the last period, i.e. Danilo and Locatelli, able to play again from the start. The Juventus 3-5-2 will thus see Szczesny in goal, Gatti, Bremer and Danilo in defense, Cambiaso, McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot and Kostic in midfield, Vlahovic and Chiesa in attack. For Mazzarri, however, the problem of the left back remains, in light of the injuries of Olivera and Mario Rui (he could make it to the Champions League). The technician should propose again Nathan in that position, despite the enormous difficulties revealed against Inter, in a 4-3-3 with Meret between the posts, Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus and, indeed, Natan in the defensive department, Anguissa, Lobotka and Zielinski in the midfield , Politano, Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia in the offensive trident.
