Napoli with fluency, Milan with a pounding heart, Roma with pride. The three big winners on Saturday smile differently, by virtue of very different matches, yet they take home with hands full. For obvious reasons, the list does not include Inzaghi's Inter, forced to deal with a very heavy defeat, which risks jeopardizing its race towards the Scudetto, as well as the stability of the bench itself.
Inter-Roma 1-2, Inzaghi: "I'm always at risk, but the defeat is undeserved"
Let's start with the match at San Siro, won by Roma against Inter despite a more Nerazzurri than Giallorossi performance. Inzaghi's team, for large stretches, made the match, making himself preferred both for intensity and for dribbling, but in the end Mourinho's men won, confirming the defensive (and not only) fragility of the hosts.
Football, as we know, is not boxing where you can also win on points, but a sport where whoever scores one more goal than the opponent rejoices: this is the case of Rome, good at not letting loose after Dimarco's goal (30'), instead finding an almost immediate draw with Dybala (39'): he himself, seduced and abandoned by Marotta in the summer, ended up removing those (few) certainties that still remain in Inzaghi, definitively collapsed after Smalling's blow (75'), which cost the fourth defeat in the league in just eight days, the umpteenth against a team of the same level. In short, it is inevitable that we return to talk about the Nerazzurri bench and its coach, especially since the imminent match against Barcelona (Tuesday at the San Siro) certainly does not lead to optimism. “Am I at risk? We coaches always are, but I can say that the team responded brilliantly by doing what I asked – replied Inzaghi, moreover after gaining Marotta's public trust -. There is disappointment after an absolutely undeserved defeat, it was our best game of the season, but it's a heavy defeat that burns and hurts. Rational explanation? We have to do more, work on the details”.
Mourinho celebrates on Instagram: "Great boys, great attributes"
On the Romanist front, for obvious reasons, there is instead a lot of enthusiasm, because the victory at San Siro, painful as it may be, confirms the mental progress of a growing team, ready to fight with the top teams at least for a place in the Champions League. Mourinho was not on the bench due to the expulsion received with Atalanta, but instead of going to the stands, perhaps in a private box, like all his colleagues, he chose a decidedly original place to experience the match, namely the team bus, obviously fully equipped, complete with social media documentation. And right up Instagram the Portuguese was able to vent his joy at the end of the match, with a comment as brief as it was incisive ("big boys, big balls"), in perfect style with his always penetrating communication.
Empoli-Milan 1-3: Pioli rejoices at the photo finish, but how many injuries!
We had suggested, in our article on Saturday, not to underestimate Milan-Empoli and the pitch definitely proved us right, even if in the end the Rossoneri managed to snatch a very important victory, both for the standings and for morale. However, the load of suffering was decidedly higher than normal and the scorecard is enough to explain it, for once more exhaustive than many words: in the 93rd minute the result was still at 1-1 thanks to a free kick from Bajrami (91'), who seemed to have frustrated the goal with which Rebic had managed to unlock the game (79').
A mockery for a Milan capable of creating many chances, without however being able to materialize them and therefore to close the match, leaving Zanetti's excellent Empoli (also with some not indifferent scoring) alive and well. And so, when Bajrami pierced the offender Tatarusanu (punishment on his post), Pioli was already thinking about the 5-point delay against Napoli, who escaped after the victory over Turin. But then it came the paw of Ballo-Touré (93') and everything returned to normal, so much so that he even allowed himself the luxury of even scoring the 3-1 with Leao, author of yet another match as a champion (not just for the goal). The dark side of the evening concerns though injuries, which increase by three units after the Castellani match: in fact, Maignan, Hernandez and the usual Origi and Ibrahimovic were also joined by Saelemaekers, Calabria and Kjaer, all forced to leave the field due to muscle problems.
A big trouble given the tour de force from here to World Cup, especially now that Chelsea (twice) and Juventus will arrive. “I'm sorry, but these are things that happen over the course of a season – glossed over the Rossoneri coach -. It was important to win after the defeat against Napoli, we felt the importance of this match also because we were facing a well-placed Empoli on the pitch. It is the success of the team, of Milan, we are a cohesive group, eager to grow and help each other. It was an intense game, we took the draw and then we restarted it, surely this will give us further confidence”.
Napoli-Turin 3-1, Spalletti: "For 40 minutes we were even superlative"
Whoever celebrates most of all, classification in hand, is anyway Spalletti's Naples, which obtains the sixth consecutive victory between the championship and the Champions League. This one against Turin was anything but obvious, partly due to the value of the opponent, a lot due to the pitfalls after the break, which have always been the enemy of those who have many national teams in their squad. Well, the Azzurri responded great, indeed very great, managing to close the case in just 37' thanks to the brace from Anguissa (6' and 12') and as usual unstoppable kvaratskhelia (37'). The goal of Sanabria (44') could have reopened the game, but Napoli were also able to manage the second half very well, with that mix of experience and mental strength typical of big teams: the standings, after all, don't lie and if Atalanta fails to beat Fiorentina (18 pm) will see him alone in command. “We were superb for 30-40 minutes in how we managed the match – Spalletti commented happily -. But then we weren't able to maintain the level also due to Torino's characteristics: they play man-on-man across the pitch, but two of our three goals came precisely by exploiting this situation".
Juventus-Bologna (20.45 pm, Dazn)
Allegri: "Now a new season begins"
Today, however, is the turn of the Juventus, the other big sufferer of this start of the season. The home match against Bologna could come at the right time, given that the Emilians are certainly not standing out for play and results, but the conditional is a must: the bianconeri seen before the break, in fact, cannot sleep peacefully against anyone. "With Bologna we have to start a new season after a first month in which we didn't do well, we need to get back to winning ways right away," he confirmed. Allegri -. The players who have returned are fine, but now we need to work, do more because what we've done up to now hasn't been enough, as well as improving the management of the unexpected. We have plenty of time to recover in the league and in the Champions League, but we need to have a nastier attitude: let's hope this break has done us good."
Juventus-Bologna, the formations
Compared to the sad away match in Monza, the Juventus coach recovers important players such as Szczesny, Rabiot and Locatelli, but also Milik and Quadrado, re-capable and enlisted after disqualification from the previous round. The idea is to put all the available offensive potential on the plate, net of the absence of Di Maria (Milan will also miss), therefore 3-5-2 (or 4-4-2, depending on the interpretation) with Szczesny in goal, Danilo, Bonucci and Bremer in defense, De Sciglio, McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot and Kostic in midfield, Milik and Vlahovic in attack. Indent also important for Thiago Motta, who finds Sansone again and can thus return to his beloved 4-3-3 with Skorupski between the posts, De Silvestri, Medel, Lucumì and Lykogiannis in the back, Soriano, Schouten and Dominguez in the midfield, Orsolini, Arnautovic and Sansone in the offensive trident .
