The Saturday of Juve and Napoli. The victories on Milan and Atalanta are worth double, both for the standings and for morale, in light of the importance of the 3 points won, from all points of view. Direct clashes, as we know, can direct a season and yesterday's are certainly no exception, indeed they have every appearance of being damned heavy. Tale, as well as sending a strong and clear message to Inzaghi, he cut out Gasperini from the race for the title, Thiago Motta he regained the Champions League zone at the most delicate moment, bringing the Red Devils to their knees Conceiçao. Today Inter and Lazio, engaged respectively against Empoli (20 pm) e Verona (18), they will have to win at all costs, otherwise they risk complicating their seasonal objectives, perhaps even definitively.
Juventus – Milan 2-0: Motta takes fourth place, Conceiçao sinks
The direct clash in Turin was taken by Juventus, who jumped to fourth place (but Lazio still has to play) thanks to the 2-0 signed by Mbangula and Weah. Deep night for Milan, forced to deal with the harsh reality: eighth place, net of the recovery of Bologna, perfectly captures the value expressed so far and yesterday's performance certainly does not authorize optimism. Thiago Motta returns to winning ways after almost a month of draws (three) and the defeat in the Super Cup against the Devil, bringing a bit of serenity to an environment that was waiting for him at the pass. His Juve tried to take control of the game from the start, while the Rossoneri chose a more cautious tactic, based on defense and sudden verticalizations. The moves paid off, in the sense that both could have scored. The Bianconeri had chances with Mbangula, Koopmeiners and Yildiz, Milan with Reijnders and Leao: the 68% possession in favor of the Old Lady seemed superfluous, instead it was the warning sign of what would happen in the second half. Motta's team entered the field with a completely different attitude and after having come close to taking the lead with Weah (who replaced the injured Yildiz) and Koopmeiners, they found it with Mbangula, even if the goal should at least be shared with Emerson Royal, decisive in the deflection that wrong-footed Maignan (59'). There wasn't even time to digest the blow that Juve doubled with Weah (64'), this time due to Tomori (who knows if Giuntoli will still be convinced to invest 30 million on him) and the match, in fact, took a very clear turn. Conceiçao's Milan, until yesterday a specialist in comebacks, had to surrender to the evidence of the facts, especially since the absences of Pulisic and Morata (in addition to those of Chukwueze and Okafor) prevented them from making changes that could turn the match around. Now it will be up to the club, if necessary, to intervene on the market to give new life to the team, because since yesterday evening the next Champions League, already complicated in itself, has moved away in a very dangerous way.
Thiago Motta: “I thank the team, it's the reward for the hard work”
“We work every day to win, in every training session,” Thiago Motta emphasized. “It takes a lot of work to play a game like this, we played very well, games like this are won with a lot of daily effort. I thank these guys, they are improving because they work so hard to overcome the many difficulties we have had, victories like this are the right reward. In the last game against Atalanta we made some technical errors, the kind that give confidence to the opponent, this time instead we played with great quality. This helps psychologically, because the opponents understand that they are facing a team that plays good football. We wanted to be aggressive, not give Milan time to play and limit the tranquility of their goalkeeper who knows how to think and find the free man. The guys did it well with a lot of energy, I am happy because in the end it went well.”
Conceiçao very harsh: “We lack desire and hunger, this way we won’t get anywhere”
“In the first half it was a balanced match in which we had more chances, then in the second half they had more desire to win, more hunger – sighed Conceiçao -. I'm worried because you always have to want to grow and improve to do well, but I'm the one who has to change the attitude and mentality of the players. If we miss goals or the others are better than us, that's fine with me, even when I coached less technical teams there was never a lack of playing spirit, the desire to win and fight for every ball. Let's not look for excuses like tiredness or anything else, other things are missing and it's difficult for me to understand. But I'm the one responsible, I have to change the situation... You can't always put everything on the shoulders of Hernandez, Leao or Maignan, we have to look each other in the eye and understand how we can do more, because it's not true that we're not at the level of the other big teams in the league. If you don't have the right desire though, which for me is the most important aspect, you won't go anywhere. For me, that's what's missing”.
Atalanta – Napoli 2-3: Conte conquers Bergamo, Gasperini surrenders
The other big move on Saturday was Napoli's, who conquered Bergamo with a 3-2 win full of emotions and twists. The "rape of the Gewiss Stadium" is worth a temporary +6 over Inter, even though the Nerazzurri have two games in hand: the one with Empoli tonight and the recovery of the 14th day with Fiorentina. The feat of a spirited Napoli remains, having reached their sixth consecutive victory on the pitch of a very tough opponent, unbeaten in the league since September and leaving with their heads held high, indeed very high. The Azzurri, however, had the merit of not losing heart after Retegui's goal (16'), immediately finding the equalizer with Politano (27') and the lead before half-time with McTominay, who was very good at taking advantage of Anguissa's assist. Atalanta did not give up, indeed at the beginning of the second half they immediately scored the point of 2-2 with Lookman, author of a great goal after an action started by Retegui and concluded by the usual surgical left foot (55'). The match thus entered a stalemate, in which the draw seemed almost a done deal: nothing could be more wrong, because in the 78th minute the inexhaustible Anguissa sprinted down the left and put an inviting cross in the center on which Lukaku pounced, for the header of the final 2-3. Gasperini spent the last minutes shouting in an attempt to wake up his team, but Napoli did not let themselves be intimidated, managing the advantage until the final apotheosis. In words, Conte, as we will see shortly, tried to keep a low profile, but his exultation, combined with his gestures to stir up joy in the away fans, perfectly explains the importance of this victory, which launches him definitively into the championship duel with reigning champions Inter.
Conte: “We are at the top and we have no desire to go back down”
“The game was set up very clearly, we didn’t want to always go after them when they had the ball,” Conte explained. “I think this was the key, even compared to the first leg. These are games that are played at very high intensity, we held our own against a team that has been working with Gasperini for years in this way, they are masters. We are 'students' who are trying to improve, to one day be masters in the pressing phase too. This is a team that has made clear improvements, following its own path. I also heard Gasperini talking about their path, but he has been there for seven years, with me it was only six months at Napoli, and on this path we have also lost some important players… We are going too fast, but no one has any intention of taking their foot off the accelerator. We need to put hay in the barn for our return to Europe, then we know very well that we are up there in the standings and we don’t want to go back down, but it’s not just our will, there are strong teams to face like Inter, Juventus, Milan and Lazio who can bother us.”
Gasperini: “Defeats like this give you the right 'bad guy' to start over”
“We played a great game, at times even extraordinary, the defeat bothers us, but we come out of this type of game stronger – Gasperini thought -. We picked up a point against Juventus, but we played a better game than them. This KO is still very fresh, it's even less than Wednesday, but football is like this and we have to accept it. Now it's a period that goes like this, but we start again and we're already thinking about the next game. These are top-level opponents, both as teams and as players. We are still aware of having created problems for them, probably also with that little difference that doesn't allow us to be higher. But we have to be aware of what we are doing, we have picked up so many points in an unexpected way. OK, I'm sorry for the boys, but when you put in these performances you have the guts inside to start again”.
Inter – Empoli (20pm, Dazn)
Attentions shift to Sunday's games, starting with the one at San Siro between Inter and Empoli. Needless to say, Inzaghi has victory as the only result available, otherwise he will lose ground to Conte's fast-moving Napoli, capable of conquering Bergamo in yesterday's direct clash. The mission, at least on paper, should not be that complicated, both due to the enormous technical gap and the current form of the Tuscans, far from that of the start of the season. D'Aversa's team has not won a match since the 4-1 defeat against Verona on December 8th: since then, four defeats (the last one last weekend against Lecce) and a draw, with the logical consequence of an increasingly worrying standing. In short, the Nerazzurri are clear favorites, regardless of a not very brilliant moment, both in terms of results and injuries. The many absences have highlighted the poor performance of the second lines, who ended up in the dock after the 2-2 with Bologna: Taremi, Zielinski and Asllani, in particular, should have been additional starters, instead the difference with the others is evident. This evening Inzaghi will be forced to give up Calhanoglu again, but the return of Mkhitaryan and Thuram is already a guarantee, especially since next week there will also be the Champions League. The possibility of responding to Napoli exists, provided that Empoli is faced with the right head: the "full belly" enemy seemed to have been defeated after the first leg derby; instead, he came knocking again at the beginning of 2025, calling into question a leadership that seemed established.
Inter – Empoli, the probable lineups
Inter (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, De Vrij, Carlos Augusto; Dumfries, Barella, Asllani, Zielinski, Dimarco; Taremi, Lautaro
On the bench: Martinez, Calligaris, Palacios, Acerbi, Darmian, Frattesi, Mkhitaryan, Buchanan, Thuram, Arnautovic
Coach: Inzaghi
Unavailable: Di Gennaro, Correa, Bisseck, Calhanoglu
Disqualified: None
Empoli (3-4-2-1): Vasquez; Goglichidze, Ismajli, Viti; Gyasi, Maleh, Grassi, Cacace; Pezzella, Esposito; Colombo
On the bench: Perisan, Seghetti, Marianucci, Cacace, De Sciglio, Falcusan, Tosto, Bacci, Henderson, Sambia, Zurkowski, Konaté
Coach: D'Aversa
Unavailable: Anjorin, Solbakken, Brancolini, Sazonov, Ebuehi, Haas, Pellegri
Disqualified: None