Napoli's dream ends here, while Inter's dream relaunches itself forcefully. We had defined it as the last call and the Nerazzurri answered, capable of winning with a clear 2-0 and moving just 3 points from third place, albeit with one game more than Roma. Instead, the night was dark on Napoli's Scudetto hopes, which indeed must watch their backs: if the Giallorossi were to win in Bergamo this afternoon, they would go minus 3 and then second place, thanks to the direct match at the Olimpico on 25 April, would be in serious danger.
It was known even before that the Italian chances were rather low, but the San Siro match certified Sarri's white flag. With yesterday's there are two consecutive defeats away from San Paolo, numbers that become even more worrying if you consider that in the last 5 away games only one victory has come, against 3 knockouts and a draw. Mancini's Inter, on the other hand, confirms the positive trend of recent times, with the exception of the clamorous home defeat against Turin, which was even heavier in light of what we saw yesterday. Without that misstep, the Champions League would be a concrete possibility, however, at least for the moment, it remains above all a dream. “We don't have many chances but we will fight until the end – admitted Mancini. – Our team is still under construction, it can happen to beat Juve and Napoli but also to lose points with inferior opponents. We've always made a good impression in head-to-head matches, but unfortunately we've also stupidly lost so many points."
Yesterday's 2-0, paradoxically, opens the vase of regrets more than that of compliments, although the championship is not over yet and can still offer surprises. Certainty instead is called Icardi. The Argentine, game after game, confirms himself as an infallible sniper whenever a playable ball arrives. There were days in which he had to wait a long time to get one, but yesterday the right opportunity came in the 4th minute and Maurito, who started in a very slight offside position (a classic case that slow motion on the pitch will solve) did not wrong. Goals but not only that: yesterday the Nerazzurri number 9 also discovered a taste for assists. In the 44th minute, after being primed by Jovetic, he served the onrushing Brozovic with a nice through ball, the Croatian thanked him and scored the 2-0 goal. In the second half, Napoli tried to reopen the match but failed, partly due to Inter's excellent defensive phase, partly due to a general discouragement that goes well beyond Higuain's absence.
This afternoon (12.30) it's Roma's turn, called to win in Bergamo to launch the assault on second place, but also to defend the third from the Nerazzurri's attacks. Against Atalanta it will be necessary to recover the missed victory against Bologna, otherwise the standings, despite the many consecutive useful results (11, 9 wins and 2 draws), would risk getting complicated. “I think it will be a very different match from last Monday's – commented Spalletti. – They are square but play open-faced, plus they have an excellent coach like Reja. It won't be easy, we'll have to be careful."
However, the pitfalls only concern the pitch: the Certaldo coach, unlike his colleague Sarri, does not believe that the calendar can be a problem. “For us, playing at 12.30 is fine, we usually train at that time – he explained at the press conference. – In Russia I happened to take the field in Siberia after 5 hours of flight and with 4 time zones, they taught me to play at all hours and in all temperatures”. No polemical mention even on the Higuain case (Pipita will return against Roma), testifying to a serene and confident Spalletti, ready to play the final rush with all the cards at his disposal. There are essentially two doubts ahead of today's match: Keita or De Rossi in midfield, Dzeko or El Shaarawy in attack. The Malian and the Bosnian are favorites but nothing is decided with certainty, for the rest of the order 4-3-3 with Szczesny in goal, Florenzi, Manolas, Rudiger and Digne in defence, Pjanic and Nainggolan in midfield, Salah and Perotti in attack.
Reja, now close to the umpteenth salvation of his career, will respond with a 4-2-3-1 with Sportiello between the posts, Masiello, Toloi, Paletta and Dramé in the back department, Freuler and Migliaccio in the middle (the starters Cigarini and De Roon are both disqualified), D'Alessandro, Kurtic and Gomez in the frontline, Borriello in attack.
