Anger was meant to be and anger was. Indeed, perhaps it would be appropriate to speak of fury given the way in which Napoli beat Bologna, a 6-0 so bombastic that it does not allow for the right to reply. A victory which, barring unimaginable twists and turns, will not change the fate of the Scudetto, now headed towards black and white Turin, but which at least brings some good humor back to the Azzurri.
The defeats in Udine and Milan, in addition to the disqualification of Higuain, could leave their mark in an indelible way, instead the band of Sarri (still in press blackout) is still alive and does not want to ruin in any way an excellent season. The situation is different for Bologna, now a distant relative of that lively and mangy team of a few months ago.
On 19 February the rossoblu were able to stop Juventus at 0-0, the only ones to succeed in the feat of not losing against the black and white army: since then, however, there have been 5 defeats and 3 draws, a bad roadmap that he called into question a salvation that seemed obvious (Frosinone third from last, with one game in hand, is only 6 points away).
“It's a shameful defeat that should make us think a lot – commented Donadoni. – Now the games depend on us, we have to restart immediately and not be intimidated by the standings”. More or less what, with due proportions, was the turn of Sarri's Napoli, hit in morale by the defeat at San Siro and awaited by the big match against Roma.
However, the Azzurri immediately showed a great desire for revenge and dominated from the first minute, without ifs and buts. The great protagonists were two who usually watch their teammates from the bench: Manolo Gabbiadini and Dries Mertens, respectively reserves for Higuain and Insigne.
The two made the most of the opportunity by scoring 5 of the 6 goals with which Napoli submerged Bologna. It was the "vice Pipita" who opened the ball after just 10' and he always found the 2-0 from a penalty in the 35th minute. In the second half, however, the Belgian took the chair, even authoring a hat-trick (58', 80' and 88') before David Lopez found the exclamation point on the credits (90').
Tonight will be Roma's turn, called to win at all costs to keep their dream of second place alive, but above all to defend third place from Inter's assaults. Mangy match that of the Olimpico (at 20.45 pm), against a Turin back from 3 consecutive victories and with their head free from pressure of any kind.
There are many pitfalls, also by virtue of the drop in the last week (only 2 points between Bologna and Atalanta), yet the match took up very little space on the Romanist eve, totally filled by the Spalletti-Totti case.
“We have already clarified ourselves yesterday, for me it's all resolved – the coach tried to gloss over in the press conference. – I have to enforce the rules and this goes for everyone, on the first goal scored in Bergamo we were distracted and it is my duty to call the group back. When I train I always choose to win, I put him on the field every time there was a need to overturn the game and I'm glad he did well. I would like 4 or 5 more strong like him, but now we have to think about Turin".
However, it is difficult for the environment to follow him, in the sense that the Captain attracts attention like no other and certainly more than Ventura's grenade, although, as previously mentioned, today's match is anything but obvious. But victory is essential, both in order not to lose sight of Napoli (the direct clash will take place on Monday) and in order not to give Inter any further hope of a comeback, which is why the Olimpico will need the real Rome.
“Our problems are mainly balance – explained Spalletti. – Torino could create difficulties for us, Ventura is a football master who knows how to give his teams an impression and style. We will have to be careful and be very good." Compared to Bergamo there should be several news, above all the return of El Shaarawy from the first minute.
The Giallorossi 4-2-3-1 will see Szczesny in goal, Florenzi, Manolas, Rudiger and Digne in defense, Keita (Pjanic is unavailable) and Nainggolan in midfield, Salah, Perotti and El Shaarawy in the frontline to support lone striker Dzeko , called to redeem himself after last Sunday's bad mistakes.
Ventura, still without Immobile and Maxi Lopez, will respond with Padelli between the posts, Maksimovic, Glik and Moretti in the back, Zappacosta (favorite over Bruno Peres), Obi, Gazzi, Baselli and Gaston Silva in the midfield, Belotti and Martinez in attack .
