Everyone wins, except Milan, Rome and…Napoli. The first news on Wednesday of Serie A is that the Azzurri are not yet champions of Italy: the success of Lazio on Sassuolo, in fact, postpone any speech to tonight, when Spalletti will face theUdinese. This time he won't necessarily need the 3 points like last Sunday, because even one would make him mathematically unreachable for anyone, thus giving him the long-awaited Scudetto. While awaiting the possible Neapolitan party, however, it is good to comment on what happened yesterday and here the cover, in spite of itself, takes it out on Milan, stopped at the San Siro by Cremonese and slipped to sixth place in the standings, paired with Atalanta (3-2 on Spezia) to Roma (1-1 in Monza). The Champions League thus becomes at great risk, also because theInter has started to fly again, as confirmed by the roaring 6-0 by Verona, and the Juve has regained victory2-1 with Lecce).
Udinese – Naples (20.45 pm, DAZN) – Spalletti: “The Scudetto? We are slowly anticipating it…”
Tonight, therefore, Napoli could win the Scudetto, Udinese permitting. A single point is enough for the Azzurri to become champions of Italy, but the Friulians, according to the declarations on the eve, have no intention of rolling out the red carpets and promise battle. The truth is that the Italian flag is not a discussion, but the city is waiting for it with an incredible desire and this puts a little pressure on the team, determined not to prolong the wait any longer. "Seeing our fans a bit disappointed mortified us because we feed on their happiness, but the stadium made us understand the undertaking we are completing, which is what I dreamed of when I arrived at Napoli," he explained. Spalletti -. We're slowly savoring the championship, but I knew right away that I had a thoroughbred team. In a short time they showed all their qualities and character for a title that comes out of the box and will be good for the whole movement. You have to make the last push, which is always the most difficult”.
Udinese – Napoli, the formations: Spalletti confirms last Sunday's eleven
For the last effort Spalletti does not think of any substitution, even if Elmas threatens Zielinski for a starting shirt. The sensation, however, is that in a Dacia Arena with strong blue hues (11 Neapolitans expected) we will see Naples itself last Sunday, therefore 4-3-3 with Meret in goal, Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Kim and Olivera in defense, Anguissa, Lobotka and Zielinski in midfield, Lozano, Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia in attack. Usual 3-5-1-1 also for Sottil, who will respond with Silvestri in goal, Becao, Bijol and Perez in the back, Ehizibue, Samardzic, Walace, Lovric and Udogie in the midfield, Pereyra behind the lone striker Nestorovski, slight favorite over Beto.
Verona - Inter 0-6, Inzaghi: "We must continue like this, we have an obligation to enter the top four"
The most striking victory of the evening is that of'Intercapable of conquering Verona with 6-0 which well explains the Nerazzurri dominance. The team, after the many wastes of the (recent) past, seems to have uncorked all of a sudden and so here is the Bentegodi goleada, following those against Empoli and Lazio. Dzeko finally broke free (brace in the 37th and 61st minute), Lautaro reiterated what he showed last Sunday (two more goals in the 55th and 92nd minute), Calhanoglu warmed his foot in view of the derby (wonderful goal in the 36th minute '), even if it all started with Gaich's own goal (31'), clumsy in deflecting a harmless cross from Dimarco into his own goal. With this victory, Inter climbs to fourth place with 60 points, two more than Atalanta, Milan and Rome: the road to the Champions League is still long, but the direction is undoubtedly correct. “The results are coming, I'm happy but we have to continue – he pointed out Inzaghi -. In 72 hours we challenge Roma and we have to prepare for a great match, here we were extraordinary against an opponent who in 2023 had only lost against Fiorentina. We have an obligation to finish in the top four, the calendar is not very simple but the pitfalls go beyond this: they are all very difficult matches, but we are happy with the moment".
Juventus 2-1 Lecce, Allegri: "We took a risk, but Vlahovic scored an extraordinary goal"
Important victory also for the Juve, albeit with fewer goals and much more effort. The match with Lecce, as expected, it wasn't a walk in the park, because the Apulians sold their skin dearly, even risking finding a 2-2 in various situations. In the end, however, he won Allegri, also thanks to a great goal by Vlahovic, who broke free after 12 dry games in the league: the Serbian was struggling as often in the season, but then, in the 40th minute, there was a great left-footed volley that brought his team back into the lead, displacing the ghosts that began to hover dangerously over the Stadium. Yes, because 3 minutes earlier Ceesay had equalized the initial goal by Paredes (in the 15th minute from a free-kick) with a penalty propitiated by Danilo's arm and the match was getting wrapped up: the striker's paw was needed and Vlahovic, finally, the he found it, giving Allegri 3 fundamental points in the Champions League race, sporting justice permitting. “We had many chances to score, but we weren't able to close the match and even risked drawing it – explained the Juventus coach -. Certainly in the defensive phase we conceded too much and we need to improve on this, then Dusan scored an extraordinary goal and closed the match on a crescendo. I hope for us and for him that it will be a starting point, if you don't get 72-73 points you won't finish in the top 4, we'll know the Champions League quota on Sunday".
Milan – Cremonese 1-1, Pioli: "We are disappointed, there are only a few games left and we need to change gears"
The surprise result of the evening is certainly that of San Siro, where the Milan got stopped by Cremonese, moreover risking losing. In fact, the Rossoneri's equalizer only came in the 93rd minute with a free-kick from Messias, moreover deflected by Vasquez, otherwise the match would have ended with a clamorous victory for the Grigiorossi, who took the lead in the 77th minute through Okereke. Once again the Rossoneri have thrown away points against a small one: just think that the Cremonese, penultimate in the standings at 21, has won five out of six against them. The problem of unhinging the closed defenses has arisen again and the turnover, in this sense, has certainly not helped. In fact, De Ketelaere and Origi are not even remotely comparable to Leao and Giroud, but Pioli has made his choice and now a lot depends on the Champions League: qualifying for the next one through the championship, at this rate, risks proving impossible, therefore not all that remains is to put on a helmet and try to beat an Inter that seems much more on the ball, even if next weekend's direct clashes (Roma-Inter, Milan-Lazio and Atalanta-Juventus) could still change the scenarios.
“We are disappointed in the most absolute way, we didn't want this result – the bitter analysis of Pioli -. There are few races now and if we don't change gears we will struggle to finish in the top four. These are decisive matches, perhaps this is the mistake, we didn't only play against Cremonese, but also with Juve, Inter, Roma, Atalanta... We have to transform this disappointment into determination for the next matches, lately we've suffered little, but at the slightest inattention we go at a disadvantage and everything becomes more complicated”.
Lazio regains victory, Atalanta climbs to fifth place, Roma slows down in Monza
The rest of the evening saw the victories di Lazio e Atalanta and draw of Roma, for an increasingly tangled ranking. Obviously, Sarri's biancocelesti didn't play for it Napoli Scudetto, but for a second place to defend and confirm: mission accomplished despite a good Sassuolo, who went down to Rome to attempt the coup but stopped by Felipe Anderson (14') and Basic (92').
Now Saturday's match against Milan is much less scary, because Lazio will face it with a good margin of safety and with the thought that a success, points in hand, would be worth three quarters of the Champions League. More complicated situation for Atalanta, but only because of past mistakes: the current performance, in fact, is undoubtedly from the first four places and in fact the Goddess, quietly, is climbing the rankings. The 3-2 over Spezia, albeit daring (Ligurian ahead with Gyasi and back in the running with Bourabia, after goals from De Roon, Zappacosta and Muriel), is the third in a row in the league and confirms the great state of health of Goddess, the only one together with Lazio to be able to face the final rush without the european cups. Opposite scenario instead for Rome, which arrived at the climax with the light on.
The 1-1 draw in Monza, in light of the many absences (yesterday the injury of El Shaarawy and the expulsion of Celik, which will reduce the squad to the bone in view of the match against Inter), can be consider a positive result, born in the first half thanks to goals from El Shaarawy (24') and Caldirola (39'), but in terms of the Champions League it is certainly a misstep. Inter will arrive at the Olimpico on Saturday and Mourinho, stormed out with theReferee Chiffi (“the worst I've ever met, and I've seen a lot of poor ones”, the comment on the poison in the press room), he will have to invent something big to get to the bottom of it, otherwise fourth place would risk moving away, perhaps, definitively.
