And at the end enjoys Juventus. Lazio's defeat and Inter's draw, in fact, play into his hands above all, as demonstrated by the standings which now see them firmly in the lead with 4 points ahead of the Biancocelesti and even 8 over the Nerazzurri. The big winner of the evening is therefore Sarri, obviously in cohabitation with Gasperini: his Atalanta is one of the most beautiful realities of modern football and not only of the Italian one. Other positive protagonists of this championship Wednesday are Edin Dzeko, author of a brace that gave Roma 3 golden points and De Zerbi, capable of stopping Inter at home, while the big losers are evidently Conte and Inzaghi, forced to deal with two missteps that keep the Scudetto dream away.
And to say that Lazio had started strong, indeed very strong, the Bergamo evening, finding a double advantage (5' De Roon own goal, 11' Milinkovic-Savic with a great shot from distance) which seemed the prelude to a real triumph. But with Atalanta you must never stop, otherwise the risk is to undergo a comeback, only that the biancocelesti, partly due to a still approximate physical condition, partly due to a bench made short by injuries, at a certain point they ran out of petrol.
The players from Bergamo found the goal to make it 2-1 at the end of the first half with Gosens (38') and in the second they completed the comeback with Malinovskyi (66', great shot from outside the area) and Palomino (80', header from Strakosha's mistake), putting the pursuers for the Champions League back at a safe distance and, above all, giving Inzaghi a great displeasure.
“Coming back against Atalanta was certainly difficult, the worst opponent for us – the disconsolate comment of the Biancoceleste coach – This defeat has a decisive impact on the standings, also because we hadn't lost in 21 games, now we hope to recover some important players”.
If Lazio see the Scudetto dream get decidedly complicated, Inter she is almost forced to abandon him altogether. The daring 3-3 at San Siro against Sassuolo nullified the benefits of Sunday's victory against Sampdoria, bringing the Nerazzurri back to a stellar distance from the top. Recovering 8 points against Juve (indeed 9, given the direct clashes against) is a titanic undertaking, especially after seeing the effects of the turnover.
Conte rested Lautaro, De Vrij, Young, Candreva and Barella, with the result that the team went into trouble right from the start, finding themselves down after just 4' (Caputo). At the end of time, however, a penalty from Lukaku (41') and a left foot from Biraghi (46') turned everything around, and when Gagliardini found himself a ball into an empty net just to put up, many thought of another Nerazzurri victory. Wrong, because the former Atalanta player sensationally sent on the crossbar (Gialappa's would have marched there for years) and Sassuolo took courage, finding the 2-2 with Berardi from a penalty (81 ').
In the 86th minute Borja Valero made Conte go crazy with joy by deflecting a free-kick from Candreva on goal, but 3' later the defense fell asleep and Magnani fixed the score at 3-3, before Skriniar completed the omelette by getting sent off (93').
“It's a draw that hurts us and we have to regret it – the analysis of a depressed Conte – We still had several opportunities to close the game definitively, but we didn't do it. It's a shame, we managed to recover and score with 4 minutes to go, then we conceded an equalizer. Now I want to win the remaining 11 games, the mentality to transfer is to try, get the most out of it and have no regrets like on this occasion".
Regrets he could also have the Roma, long under against the Sampdoria of the former Ranieri. A result born from a mess by Diawara and made the most of by Gabbiadini (11') remained unchanged for over an hour, until Dzeko decided to take the chair with two absolute masterpieces. In particular the first, a splendid left-footed volley on an assist from Pellegrini (64') which is worth the gold medal of the day, but also the second (85', again on the volley, this time with a right-footed shot from Cristante) it's certainly not for everyone. The Bosnian's great evening erases Fonseca's mistakes (Pastor starting with Pellegrini on the bench shouting revenge), but above all it allows Roma to maintain a small hope in the Champions League, albeit 6 points behind this Atalanta (plus the advantage in direct matches) are currently a half-sentence.
“Dzeko is undoubtedly the strongest striker I've ever coached, goals like tonight's are scored only by the greats – applauded the Giallorossi coach – Champions League? There are two possibilities for us, fourth place or the victory of the Europa League. Overcoming Atalanta won't be easy because they are a great team, but we believe in it. It's true, we can't afford mistakes, but we'll try until the end of the season. Then there will be the Europa League, but now we can only concentrate on the league and I'm confident."
The 27th thus concludes with another evening full of goals (14 in three games) and entertainment: today a day off, after which tomorrow it will already be time to think about the next one. A football binge which, however, in the light of what we are seeing, certainly does not risk getting bored.
