Juve takes the lead again, Napoli… loses it. Wednesday in the championship gives us the overtaking of the Lady, albeit at the end of a decidedly more complicated match than expected, but also a 2-2 pyrotechnic between the Azzurri and Atalanta, with arbitration controversies and fiery declarations. Let's start from the challenge in Turin and therefore from the success of Juve against Genoa, a 2-1 drawn up to the 95th minute and decided by a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo. The summary explains better than many words all the difficulties encountered by the black and whites, forced to push beyond all expectations to bend Thiago Motta's team, who in any case deserve compliments. Sanabria's ingenuity aside, of course, because giving away a penalty in full stoppage time to the opponents, thus nullifying what would have been a real feat, is truly unforgivable.
Up until then, Genoa had been practically perfect, forcing Juve to draw despite their prolonged numerical inferiority (Cassata sent off in the 51st minute for double yellow card) and being first down thanks to a goal by Bonucci, who scored with a head on which Radu appeared anything but innocent. It must also be said that this was the Rossoblu goalkeeper's only mistake, before and after one of the best on the pitch. His saves kept up the tie built by Kouamé (41'), very lucky in bagging in a daring way (the wrong shot ended up displacing Buffon) but also good at exploiting the blunder of the black and white defense. In the second half, however, it was reasonable to expect an easy black and white victory, especially since in the 51st minute, as already mentioned above, Genoa remained in 10 for the fiscal expulsion (but fair in terms of regulation) of Cassata, who pulled Dybala's shirt even though he was already booked.
For a good 20', however, the rossoblu held up the impact, postponing the inevitable black and white siege to the final quarter of an hour, in which Sarri remained in 10 due to the expulsion of Rabiot, booked twice in less than half an hour. In all of this, Ronaldo roamed the pitch, failing to score the overtaking goal on at least two occasions. When the Var, in full stoppage time, annulled the 2-1 goal for offside (right), many thought of the second consecutive draw, with the consequent overtaking of Inter, but then CR7, as a champion as he is, obtained the aforementioned penalty, transforming it with coldness and putting hierarchies back in place. “We played under pace in the first half – Sarri's analysis. – In the second half, on the other hand, we increased the intensity and the result is the right consequence of the many goals we created, unfortunately we continue to score little and concede goals at the first opportunity".
Napoli's evening was decidedly less happy, stopped by Atalanta on 2-2 and slipped out of the Champions League area for the first time in years. In fact, the equal of the San Paolo, in addition to leaving the disadvantage from the Bergamo players unchanged, the overtaking of Roma and the engagement of Lazio and Cagliari are worth it. However, it was the finish that caused discussion above all, with Ilicic's goal (86') born of a dubious action in the Nerazzurri area: the Neapolitans would have wanted a penalty for the contact between Kjaer and Llorente, instead they conceded the equalizer - mockery. From then on, a real uproar broke out, with Ancelotti expelled for protests and a fiery post-match. “Mr. Rizzoli and Mr. Nicchi, if they continue like this, they will end up with hordes of Neapolitans and angry fans – the very heavy attack by De Laurentiis -. The untouchability of Rizzoli and the referees is unbearable, we put the money into this sick football and we have the right to know how things work, without them falling from above. Basically, I ask for respect and clarity, especially from Nicchi and Rizzoli: let them show their faces. They'll say they're making it, but they're just bad actors."
Too bad, because beyond thefinal episode (however doubtful: the retention between Llorente and Kjaer is mutual) it had been a wonderful match, with Napoli and Atalanta facing each other head on, just as expected. It was the Azzurri who first found the advantage with Maksimovic (16'), before Milik ate the 2-0 and Freuler found the equal by exploiting a duck from Meret (41'). However, in the second half, after 25' of great balance, the Pole made it up to him by making the most of the assist from Fabian Ruiz (71') and bringing his team up by one. All finished? Not a chance. Ilicic found the 2-2 after the aforementioned "crime", turning the final into a saloon. The fact, however, is that Napoli lose the chance to catch Atalanta, but above all the fourth place at the expense of Roma. And on Saturday, at the Olimpico, the direct confrontation will take place, with the Azzurri forced to win in order not to sink. All the premises for another day of fire are there…
