The challenge has begun. Juventus and Napoli take home the 3 points, giving a loud and clear signal to the whole championship: the Scudetto, waiting for Inter, is still their business. Of course, it cannot be said that the wins against Parma and Fiorentina, as well as the booty, we have a lot in common: on the one hand a managed 1-0, almost as if Allegri was still there, on the other a bombastic 4-3, in perfect Sarri style, when he was obviously in Naples.
In short, the first Saturday of the championship leaves us with two very different successes, a sort of premonition of what will happen in the future, or perhaps just a misleading day at the end of August. We will only have the answer in a few weeks, when the market is over and the teams, as a result, will have reached a very precise physiognomy, in the meantime, however, Sarri's Juve (or Martusciello, given the absence of the chief coach due to pneumonia) and Ancelotti's Napoli have shown several smudges, suggesting that the respective works in progress are still far from being completed.
The first half of the bianconeri in that of the Tardini, to tell the truth, left excellent signals: a short, offensive team, devoted to making the enormous quality available explode, looking for a combination of victory and show that was decidedly different from the past. The problem, if we can talk about this, is that the goal came from the ineffable Chiellini and not by the atomic attack made up of the Douglas Costa-Higuain-Ronaldo trident, with the Portuguese being the only real designated terminal.
The conclusions towards Sepe's goal, except for some inevitable action, all came from CR7 and his unexpected (and unprecedented) imprecision meant that the match, from a triumphal exhibition, suddenly became complicated. The symbolic actions of all this arrived between the 29th and 34th minute, when Ronaldo first devoured the 2-0 missing an easy goal after a splendid action signed Pjanic-Higuain, only to have it canceled for a few centimeters offside.
They could have been the two punches of the knockout against a Parma too fearful and dependent on Gervinho to really annoy the Lady, instead they turned into the chances that he was looking for from the match. transforming the second half into a sort of inverted script, with D'Aversa's team attacking with 4 strikers and Sarri's team looking for a counterattack, before settling, thanks to the inevitable physical decline, to simply manage the ball. Thus a 1-0 came out that will certainly not go down in history, but which gives the new coach a bit of serenity: this match, net of the transfer market and preparation, was mainly needed for the standings…
"The team played a great first half, moving very well, they could have made more chances but that's okay - the comment by Martusciello, Sarri's deputy, after the match. – I heard Maurizio between the first and second half, he was clearly very happy with the result even if, being a perfectionist, he is perpetually pissed off if everything doesn't go exactly as he wants. However the boys have given great willingness to accept certain things and are doing so with great commitment. It is clear that this way of playing needs to be significantly improved."
To decide the match, as often happens, the least expected man of all, that is Giorgio Chiellini considered indispensable for the defense and instead capable of finding a striker's paw (21 '), where the "real" ones have fenced more and more times. The match between Fiorentina and Napoli is very different, as can be seen from the result. The 3-4 final, pyrotechnic beyond all rosy expectations, brings with it inevitable (and extremely unwelcome) polemical aftermaths: in fact, it is possible that the Var, in the third year of Serie A, can still make mistakes such as those that led to the penalty of the momentary 1-2 blue?
The question, in the light of the replays (in almost real time, of course), is lawful beyond measure and in addition to the unfortunate Massa (referee on the field)-Valeri (Var) couple, accuses Rizzoli himself, expected at the first explanation of his championship. The episode (Mertens literally throws himself on Castrovilli looking for a foul that simply doesn't exist), despite the help of the monitors, it ended with a penalty that Insigne converted in a 1-2 Napoli draw, certifying a comeback to Pulgar's initial goal (9', another penalty for Zielinski's arm) which Mertens had already tried to remedy with a great shot from distance (38').
From then on it was a crazy match, with the Viola equalizing at the start of the second half (Milenkovic headed in the 52nd minute), the Azzurri taking the lead again through Callejon (56'), Fiorentina up 3-3 with a spectacular Boateng ( 65') and Napoli ahead again with Insigne, very good at exploiting a counterattack and making the final 3-4 (67'). In the end, as if that weren't enough, there is a contact between Hysaj and the newcomer Ribery to blow up the Franchi, decided to believe (rightly) that this, in the light of Massa's previous decisions, could deserve, if not the penalty, at least an on-field-review.
“There is no logical explanation – growled Montella. – There's a simulation episode, but why don't they go see it? There are 5 of them… What is the Var for? I cannot accept certain mistakes with technology…”. “After so many insults I told some fans to go home – Ancelotti retorted. – I'm sorry because I sympathize with Fiorentina, my father was a purple fan. Many compliments to the honest Fiorentina fans but unfortunately there are also ignorant ones and there were many behind my bench… These are three important points considering everything that happened during the match”.
The calendar immediately gives us the gift of putting Juventus and Napoli facing each other: a comparison which, in the light of what happened yesterday, will be worth a very first, as well as absolutely partial, top of the table. But we are sure that, regardless of the summer period, the duelists will play it to the last breath, aware that, after all, a record is always a record.
