An earthquake on Juventus. And, by extension, on the whole championship, since now the ranking is decidedly different. There Federal Court of Appeals, presided over by judge Mario Luigi Torsello, has in fact used a heavy hand on the black and whites, inflicting 15 penalty points (in the current championship, of course) for the case of capital gains, even 6 more than those requested by the FIGC agent Giuseppe Chinè. Heavy penalties also for the executives involved, for which extension a Uefa e Fifa: ranging from 2 and a half years of inhibition for Paratici, now at Tottenham, to 2 per Agnelli and Arrivabene, up to 1 year and 4 months for Cherubini and 8 months for Nedved, Garimberti, fleece, Venier, Hughes, Marilungo e Roncaglio. Instead, the other 8 companies involved (Sampdoria, Genoa, Parma, Empoli, Pisa, Pescara, Novara and Pro Vercelli) and their respective managers were acquitted, thus confirming the first instance sentence of last April 15th.
Sting on Juventus: minus 15 and tenth place in the standings, now the Champions League is 12 points away!
However, it is clear that what interests the fans most (and shareholders, John Elkann in the first place) is the penalty standings, a surprising minus 15 (the Public Prosecutor's Office, as previously mentioned, had asked for 9) which picks Allegri's season. Juventus thus descends to tenth place at 22, on par with Bologna and Empoli, while the last profit for Champions Lazio takes it with 34 points, albeit in cohabitation with Atalanta and Rome. A terrible blow on the club's ambitions and future prospects, because the Europe that matters, it should be remembered, is worth 40 million and up: it is clear that the property, already grappling with a budget deficit of 238 million, will have to downsize investments in a strong way, unless Allegri manages to make a comeback that would seem miraculous. In the meantime, however, there is a season to go on and, despite all the difficulties of the case, to be saved. The match with theAtalanta on Sunday it thus becomes a sort of anticipated final, a last resort to be conquered at any cost to try to stay alive and make sense of the rest of the championship.
Juventus are not there: "Blatant injustice to be remedied, we will appeal"
Of course, it still remains the Coni Guarantee Council, the last level of judgment to which Juventus has already decided to appeal for procedural legitimacy and not for the merits of the sentence, which means that there cannot be a reduction of the sentence, but only the total annulment. "Today's acceptance of the appeal for revocation by the Federal Court of Appeal constitutes a clear unequal treatment of Juventus and its managers compared to any other club or member - the press release signed by the three Juventus lawyers Maurizio Bellacosa , Davide Sangiorgio and Nicola Apa -. We are waiting to carefully read the reasons for presenting the appeal before the Collegio di Garanzia dello Sport, however we point out, as of now, that only Juventus and its managers are attributed the violation of a rule, which the same sports justice he had repeatedly acknowledged that he did not exist. We believe that this is a clear injustice also towards millions of fans, which we trust will soon be remedied in the next level of judgement".
Salernitana – Naples (18 pm, Dazn)
In the meantime, today begins the 19th day and it's immediately up to the leaders Napoli, former winter champion for two days, who will close the first round in the Campania derby with Salernitana, with the aim of scoring 50 points. A figure that would be sensational, so much so that it would even improve the path of Sarri, who in 2017/18 went to the halfway point at 49, but absolutely within reach: Nicola's grenades, back in the saddle after the chaos at the beginning of the week ( first the official exemption, then the recall), they will put their heart and pride into it, but they are returning from the sensational 8-2 of Bergamo and, more generally, from 4 defeats in the last 5 games, seasoned with 16 goals conceded. In short, on paper there would seem to be no history, yet football teaches us every day to never take anything for granted: even last season, after all, a Salernitana at an all-time low (it was still the time of the trust and the risk of bankruptcy) managed to create a lot of difficulties for Napoli, only coming to terms with it in the final with Zielinski. The best version of Spalletti's team will therefore be needed, certainly not the one seen on Tuesday with the Cremonese, not surprisingly mocked and clamorously eliminated from Coppa Italia. This time, for the avoidance of doubt, the starters will play, even if the coach will have to do without Kvaratskhelia, one of his best and most decisive men.
Spalletti warns his team: "We're playing on a hot field, I expect a reaction after the Italian Cup"
“We certainly didn't like the elimination, but there are no consequences of any kind – he underlined Spalletti -. I expect the correct reaction that there must be for a team that goes to play on a difficult, hot pitch, we're playing for something important and we can't wait to do it. I'm pleased to find Nicola again, I respect him, it could be one more complication, but I'm glad he's there, I repeat that the match will have two thousand difficulties. What is the value of this first round? It means that we are in the lead, there is a long way to go, the desire to maintain this ranking will increase. We think about other things in the right time, contracts and speeches we don't care about anything, but only get to the end of this season as we want to get there ".
Nicola the 'survivor': "It's time to raise your head"
"I believe that in life you never grow through successes, but from beatings and to reach great goals it is often necessary to fall making noise - he explained Nicola, back in the saddle after two days of being exonerated -. If the result in Bergamo was the price to pay to learn something, I accept it, but now the time has come to start over and raise my head again starting with this extremely difficult match, giving my all and fighting for every ball until the last drop of sweat".
Salernitana - Naples, the formations: Kvaratskhelia does not recover, Nicola focuses on 4-3-3
Compared to Tuesday, Napoli finds the starting eleven again, with the exception of kvaratskhelia, still struggling with the flu that had already made him skip the Cremonese. However, Spalletti certainly can't complain, in the light of a team that, at least up to now, has had virtually no obstacles. L'elimination from the Italian Cup however it induces to keep the antennas straight, even in the presence of a less technically equipped team, which is why the blue coach will return to relying on the usual 4-3-3 with Meret in goal, Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Kim and Mario Rui in defense, Anguissa, Lobotka and Zielinski in midfield, Politano, Osimhen and Elmas in attack. Revolution in sight instead for Nicola, who abandons the usual 3-5-2 for an unprecedented 4-3-3 (or 4-4-2, depending on the interpretation) with Ochoa between the posts, Daniliuc, Lovato, Gyomber and Bradaric in the backline, Coulibaly, Nicolussi Caviglia and Vilhena in the midfield, Candreva, Piatek and Dia in the offensive trident.
