Revenge of the little ones. The day after of Superleague chaos, definitively over until further notice, it is mainly reported for the coups of Spezia and Sassuolo, the first able to stop the leaders Inter on the draw, the second even of conquer San Siro and condemn Milan to a very heavy defeat, perhaps decisive, in a Champions League key. The exception to this flipped day rule is the Juventus, but up to a certain point: she too, in fact, struggled a lot to beat the penultimate Parma in the standings, only succeeding in a comeback, moreover with all the attackers dry. In short, the slags of the Superlega have all been seen and even if it had only been a case, it would still have been quite sensational.
on the drawInter, the second in a row after the one in Naples, certainly weighed on Milan's result, which by losing removed a lot of tension from the match at the Peak. From the Nerazzurri's point of view, of course, because Spezia took the field with great "garra", immediately finding the advantage with Farias (12 ') and giving Conte's team a good wake-up call. However, he knew how to enter the battle, first finding an equalizer with Perisic (39 ') and then coming close to the advantage several times in the second half: Skriniar, Lukaku and Lautaro made Provedel tremble, without however being able to beat him. Thus a draw came out which, all in all, is good for both, with Inter taking another step towards the Scudetto and Spezia approaching salvation.
“The finish line is starting to show and it's normal for there to be a bit of pressure – he explained Tale – Many footballers are struggling at this level for the first time, but they are doing it well. We played a very intense match, we lacked a bit of quality in front of goal and in the last pass, but the match was played well, the performance was there”.
The most sensational result on Wednesday, however, is that of San Siro, where the party was not Milan of Pioli but the Sassuolo by De Zerbi. Who, in Tuesday's tussle, had said he didn't even want to play this game: thank goodness for him who has had second thoughts, thus adding another chapter to the increasingly interesting history of the neroverdi. And to think that the Rossoneri had started well, so much so that they closed the first half ahead with Calhanoglu (30' with a great right-footed shot from outside the area) and managed the second rather well, at least until the 70th minute. In fact, the game with the substitutions took place there, for the better for Sassuolo (in Raspadori instead of Defrel) and for the worse for Milan (out of Calhanoglu and Rebic for Krunic and Mandzukic). The very young neroverde striker immediately took the stage with a brace that ennobles his curriculum: first a paw in front of goal (76'), then a big right-footed cross on an assist from Berardi (83'). A very heavy result for Sassuolo, but above all for Milan: now the Champions League race, in light of this misstep, becomes quite complicated.
"In football, whoever scores an extra goal is right, we've had many situations, we haven't succeeded and if you don't close the matches then you risk – the analysis of Pioli – We need to move on from now, a defeat always gives a lot of disappointment but we must transform it into determination. We are not afraid to screw things up, having pressure is a privilege. We are fighting for the Champions League, if we don't get there we won't be completely satisfied but we want to do it".
However, the race has become complicated, because the others have yet to play and who has already done so, see the Juve, won. The bianconeri were expected at the gate regardless of the Superlega: the defeat in Bergamo, in fact, weighed heavily on the standings. When Brugman found the sensational 0-1 with a splendid free-kick (25'), the ghosts of Benevento returned to hover over the Stadium, also because Ronaldo, just like that afternoon, was having a bad day (his mistake in the barrier on Parma's goal, as well as a missed goal at the start). Things haven't changed for him, but for Juve they have and thinking about it, it wasn't the most celebrated men but Alex Sandro and De Ligt. The Brazilian scored twice between the first and second half (43' and 47'), the Dutch set the point with a header in the 68th minute, giving Pirlo three vital points.
"The first opponent is always the head, we got off to a good start, but after so many things that happened and the knockout against Atalanta it wasn't easy to arrive with the right energy - commented Pirlo – But then we stayed in the game with the right attention and we won a fundamental victory for our journey".
To complete the 32nd day today's postponements, both fundamental in a Champions League key. Roma-Atalanta (18.30) and, above all, Napoli-Lazio (20.45) are in fact two real play-offs, in particular that of Maradona, destined to change the destiny of whoever wins it (or loses it, depending on one's point of view). We will start from the Olimpico, where two teams with decidedly different motivations will face each other. If the Bergamo players are very fast towards qualifying for the Champions League (it would be the third in a row), the same cannot be said for the Giallorossi, whose hopes now pass only from the Europa League and next week's semi-final against Manchester United. Continuing to lose, however, is not the solution to prepare for the best, which is why it is legitimate to expect a Rome that is much more on the spot than the one seen in Turin, beyond the reasons for the standings.
It is no coincidence that Fonseca, net of the disqualification of Diawara and the usual various injuries (Pedro, Smalling, Kumbulla, El Shaarawy and Spinazzola, as well as the long-term patient Zaniolo), will field a respectable 3-4-2-1 with Pau Lopez in goal, Mancini, Cristante and Ibanez in defense, Karsdorp, Villar, Veretout and Calafiori in midfield, Pellegrini and Mkhitaryan on the trocar, Dzeko in attack. No important defections, except for Hateboer, instead for Gasperini, who will respond with a 4-2-3-1 with Gollini between the posts, Toloi, Romero, Djimsiti and Gosens in the back, De Roon and Freuler in the midfield, Malinovskyi, Pessina and Muriel behind lone striker Zapata.
The highlight however, as previously mentioned, will arrive in the evening with Napoli-Lazio, game from inside or outside for both. No mistakes, therefore, for the Azzurri and Biancocelesti, who have reached the key point of their season. Gattuso, struggling with the disqualification of Demme and the absences of Ospina and Ghoulam, will play with the preferred 4-2-3-1, therefore Meret in goal, Di Lorenzo, Koulibaly, Manolas and Hysaj in defense, Fabian Ruiz and Bakayoko in midfield, Politano, Zielinski and Insigne behind Mertens, preferred to Osimhen. Inzaghi's big doubt (still grappling with Covid, Farris will be on the bench again) is called Luis Alberto, called up but struggling with an ankle problem: the decisive audition this morning. The 3-5-2 biancoceleste will thus see Reina between the posts, Marusic, Acerbi and Radu in the back, Lazzari, Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva, Luis Alberto (or Pereira) and Fares in the midfield, Correa and Immobile in attack.
