And now Juve is really scary. The victory over Napoli is one that makes noise, because it was obtained against a level opponent and above all because it came at a crucial moment of the season. The bianconeri had to take advantage of Milan's misstep, they succeeded after an extraordinarily intense match. Rarely in Mazzarri's management has Napoli been seen so on the ropes, unable to become dangerous for almost the entire game and the credit goes entirely to Juventus. Conte has built an excellent machine, which lacks only a center forward worthy of the name to be perfect. Marotta will have to think about this in eight weeks, meanwhile the black and whites dream of sewing a tricolor on their chest that would be almost unbelievable. Milan remain the slight favourites, but Juve are only two points away and we are preparing for a fabulous Scudetto sprint.
THE MATCH
Aggression versus speed. This is how the challenge between Juventus and Napoli was presented, which in light of the results of the weekend was worth even more than expected. Juve had the merit of not making calculations, aware that a draw would have been almost like a defeat, while Napoli gave the impression of wanting to control their opponent, as if a point, all things considered, could even go well. This made the difference right from the start, with the hosts on the attack and the visitors in charge of their half of the pitch, but ready to go again. However, if the three tenors Hamsik, Lavezzi and Cavani are having a bad night (and yesterday's definitely was), then it will be difficult for Napoli to create problems for the best defense in the league. Not that Juve lacks problems: the maneuver is fluid, the pace is frenzied, but there are no players who throw it in and that's nothing new. The top scorer Matri (10 goals, 1 more than Nocerino) watched the match from the bench, Vucinic continues to be too discontinuous, Borriello bangs a lot but never scores, on balance the only strikers to celebrate are Quagliarella (returned to scoring ) and Del Piero, who came on 10' from the end but author of terrific plays. In this report on the attackers there is the entire Juventus season: when it goes well, a midfielder or a defender unlocks it, when it goes badly it ends in a draw. Fortunately for Juve, the first option came out yesterday, in this case represented by Bonucci, who was lucky to deflect a shot from Vucinic (53rd) onto goal. The images show that the Juventus defender is offside, but it is a matter of a few centimetres, frankly invisible to the naked eye. The Fifa directives are clear: if in doubt, you have to let it go, therefore the assistant cannot be blamed for anything. Also because three minutes later (56th), the same stops Vucinic face to face with De Sanctis for an offside that doesn't exist. It would have been the 2-0 goal, but all in all that's okay. In the meantime, Napoli wander around the field in confusion and Mazzarri's moves are useless, taking away Inler for Pandev (60th) and Hamsik for Dzemaili (71st). As a great chessboard, Conte responds blow for blow: out Lichtsteiner in Caceres (65th), out Borriello (booed) in Quagliarella (69th). The match virtually remained in the balance until the 75th minute, when an overflowing Vidal invents a cinematic goal: a series of feints on Campagnaro, dry dribbling and a monstrous left foot that slips under the crossbar. Scenes of jubilation at the Juventus Stadium, with Agnelli and Marotta embracing in the grandstand, aware of the importance of this victory. Once the games were done, Quagliarella let loose, first touching the Eurogol with a shot from midfield that went just wide, then found it with a right foot that surprised De Sanctis at the near post (83rd). The assist is from Del Piero, who entered a minute earlier in place of Vucinic and was immediately able to set fire to spirits. The moral Captain (the "real" one was Buffon) was not satisfied with the assist: he wanted the goal and came close twice, but De Sanctis denied it.
THE REACTIONS
At the end of the game, Antonio Conte lavished his praises, which he immediately turned to the team: “In the last two matches we clearly beat Inter and Napoli, two teams that started ahead of us on the grid at the beginning of the season. Having defeated the Azzurri is a great source of pride given that they started this wonderful job two and a half years before us. I thank my players who are truly extraordinary and to hear the fans so happy tonight is really nice." Along the lines of what was declared by Marotta ("I don't reply to opposing coaches, I don't want to fuel controversy"), the Juventus coach avoided answering Allegri, who had brought Juventus and the referees into play the day before. On the fight for the Scudetto, Conte reiterated the concept he has been repeating for months: “Let's take a look ahead, albeit aware that only Milan can lose the title. They are making up for 12 injuries, there is no one in Italy who could handle these problems. Sure, at -2 we'll play it trying to exploit our enthusiasm and that of the environment around us. In the meantime we have almost mortgaged second place and we are in the final of the Coppa Italia”. The Neapolitan front is in a completely different mood, with De Laurentiis who once again took it out on the European efforts of his team: "We have been drained by the Champions League, now we must gather the residual strength and find the lost enamel that is not lacking only to us, but also to all the other teams that have won the cups". Mazzarri, on the other hand, preferred to shift focus to episodes, even if his thoughts are already on next Saturday, when a real play-off for third place will take place at the Olimpico: “I'm sorry because up until the second goal the game was even. Juventus were doing very well, their physical condition made the difference. Now is the time to look ahead, we will fight for it in Rome".
