A crazy Lazio. The Biancocelesti also beat Sampdoria, thus bringing their streak of consecutive victories to eleven, to which those in the Super Cup and Coppa Italia should also be added. A terrific roadmap, which authorizes us to speak openly about the Scudetto: Juventus are on 3 points, Inter on 1 and if it is true that both have yet to play, it is also true that Lazio must make up for the home match against Verona . The one against Sampdoria could have been a tricky match, put as it was at the beginning of a week that will see the away game in Naples and the derby against Roma, but instead it was archived in less than a time, thus allowing Inzaghi to manage better men and forces.
The great protagonist of the day, as is often the case, Ciro Immobile, author of a hat-trick that takes him to 23 in the scorers' standings: at this rate, Higuain's record (36 in the 2015/16 season) will be broken, but above all Lazio will really be able to fight for any kind of goal. “It would take too long to count his records – Inzaghi commented satisfied. – After Lulic and Parolo is our captain, let's talk about an extraordinary team man. The guys believe in the work we do, I'm lucky to have a great group that is 100% committed during the week. But we mustn't stop now: we are enjoying these successes and also the Super Cup, but we are looking ahead. Head to Napoli, then down with the derby, that's where we want to take the twelfth consecutive victory ".
They will certainly be two more probative tests than yesterday's, where Lazio literally devoured Sampdoria in just 20': so many were enough to witness goals from Caicedo (7'), and Immobile (17' from a penalty and 20'). From then on it was pure academia, with Bastos (54') and Ciro himself (65', again from the penalty spot) bringing Lazio's goals to 5, before Sampdoria, also forced to deal with the expulsion by Chabot, found the point of the flag with Linetty (70'). In short, a triumph, just like the one staged at the San Paolo: a pity for Napoli, however, that it was Fiorentina who celebrated the 2-0 final. The Viola enterprise is evidently influenced by the disaster of the Azzurri, now in the midst of a very heavy crisis, perhaps even irreversible.
In fact, the Gattuso cure did not workindeed his team, if possible, is doing even worse than Ancelotti's, as shown by the merciless numbers. Four defeats in five games, nine goals conceded and just four scored, the Champions League area eleven points away, waiting for Atalanta and Roma to make their moves, all with a terrible calendar that will see Lazio and Juve in the space of a week. The match with Fiorentina was supposed to help them get up and run again, instead it only gave impetus to Iachini's Viola, capable of conquering the San Paolo with a performance of great character, in which the 2 goal differences are even tight. After Chiesa's 1-0 (26') it was Ospina who kept Napoli on their feet, saving twice from Federico himself and once from Benassi.
The rest of the blues? A very occasional call from Callejon and an outside post from Insigne, for the rest a lot of confusion and as many conceptual errors, definitively punished by Vlahovic's left-footed shot in the 74th minute. "We have to apologize to the fans and to the city because the performance was embarrassing - Gattuso's comment. – We have lost the last three games, but in the others we had done better. We were unwatchable, we must not look for alibis, but take responsibility and the first culprit is me. We look like a group of people who have never played together before. We can't go on like this, we've hit rock bottom."
Today, however, it's the turn of Rome and Milan, respectively engaged on the field of Genoa (at 18) and at San Siro against Udinese (12.30). Delicate matches, which could revive the European ambitions of the two or bury them: victory, never like today, seems to be the only possible way for both. It will be the Rossoneri who will inaugurate Sunday football in the lunch match, an opportunity not to be wasted both to give continuity to the latest results (two victories between the championship and the Coppa Italia), and to really try to move up the standings. “We have to act quickly and score as many points as possible – confirmed Pioli at the press conference. – We will play four of the next five games at San Siro, including the Cup, it's not a decisive period but certainly an important one. We are improving, we are growing, now we just have to think about scoring more points in the second round. Starting with this game."
Which will be against Gotti's Udinese, back from the cup beating against Juve, but also from the three consecutive victories in the league that lifted them to twelfth place, +10 above the relegation zone and only 4 points from the Europa League zone . “It's a team that's doing very well, let alone the Coppa Italia – explained the Rossoneri coach. – I'm mentally fit and it shows that the coach has done a good job. Physical team, difficult to overcome and able to restart, we will have to work with clarity and with the right balance ".
To put the diktat into practice, the 4-4-2 of the last few games will be confirmed, albeit with some changes. In defense for example, in front of the recovered Donnarumma, there will be the confirmation of Kjaer, already tested successfully in the Italian Cup, paired with Romagnoli, with Conti and Hernandez on the wings, in midfield instead space for Castillejo, Kessié, Bennacer and Bonaventura, with Ibrahimovic and Leao in attack. Usual 3-5-2 also for Gotti, who after the turnover in Turin will return to fielding Udinese like Musso between the posts, Becao, Troost-Ekong and Nuytinck in the back department, Stryger Larsen, Fofana, Mandragora, De Paul and Sema in the midfield, supporting the offensive duo made up of Okaka and Lasagna. Very delicate match also for Roma, engaged in Marassi against Nicola's Genoa.
Fonseca's team is back from a complex week, only partially relieved by the success in Parma: the two defeats against Turin and Rome weigh heavily, as do Zaniolo's injury and the difficulties on the transfer market, which exploded after the missed exchange between Politano and Spinazzola. “We won't make any further attempts for Politano, it's true that I wanted him but if the club decided so, they will have had his reasons – glossed over the Portuguese coach. – Spinazzola is fine and will play, but for the rest I have to admit that I'm worried: at the moment I only have Kluivert and Under as available offensive wingers. In any case, the team is fine, motivated and confident, ready to face an important week." Who, after the away match in Genoa, will see Juventus in the Italian Cup and the derby with the very fast Lazio.
In short, at Marassi you really can't go wrong, otherwise you risk compromising all the good things done so far, as well as having some really complicated days. Fonseca, after the (successful) experiment of Parma's 3-man defence, will return to a 4-2-3-1 with Pau Lopez in goal, Spinazzola, Mancini, Smalling and Santon (Kolarov is disqualified) in defence, Diawara and Cristante in midfield, Under, Pellegrini and Kluivert behind the lone striker Dzeko. Nicola will attempt the coup by relying on a 3-5-2 that will see Perin between the posts, Biraschi, Romero and Goldaniga in the back, Ankersen, Sturaro, Schone, Jagiello and Pajac in the midfield, Pandev and Sanabria in attack.
