La Serie A is in chaos again. Blame the Covid, of course, but also of the eternal controversy between the football palace and the local health authorities, now in its umpteenth chapter in the series. The story is the same as always: the League says that the matches are played regularly, but the Local Health Authorities put the teams in quarantine, effectively preventing any sporting activity from taking place. A little theater already seen last season, when Juventus-Napoli (already, always her) kicked off a series of courses and appeals, which first led to a 0-3 draw and the Azzurri's penalty, then to recover the match and restore the previous ranking.
This time though the ending may be different because the League Board, which met the following evening the cancellations of Bologna-Inter, Atalanta-Turin, Fiorentina-Udinese and Salernitana-Venice, blocked by the various regional ASLs, announced the iron fist: 0-3 at the table for those who don't show up (and here none new), but above all appeals to the TAR against the Local Health Authorities, guilty of ignoring the new quarantine provisions issued on December 30 by the Ministry of Health.
In essence: asymptomatic subjects with a booster carried out, or with a first cycle for less than 120 days, or recovered from Covid for less than 120 days must not undergo any isolation, which is why it becomes difficult to understand the provisions of the ASL, especially since vary from region to region (that of Veneto, just to give an example, did not block the departure of Verona for La Spezia despite the fact that there were 8 positives, while that of Piedmont prevented Turin from going to Bergamo with 7).
Then yesterday we touched on the paradox of paradoxes, with two Asl of the same city that have given opposite provisions. And so Napoli was given the green light to Turin by ASL 1, but once landed in Caselle it was blocked by ASL 2, which decided to quarantine Zielinski, Lobotka and Rrahmani: the three, vaccinated with a second dose more than 120 days ago, they would have had close contact with positives. The chaos is total, but at the time of writing Juventus-Napoli is not at risk of being postponed: the presence of the aforementioned players, on the other hand, is not safe, even if the purse leans towards the yes, given that the quarantine would only concern "civil" contacts and not work (therefore the game). The match, therefore, will be played regularly, with two teams forced to win to pursue their respective goals.
Napoli, after the internal defeat against Spezia, can no longer make mistakes, especially since losing in Turin would not only mean abandoning the Scudetto dream, but also putting the Champions area at risk, given that Juve would only reach two points. Scenario unthinkable until recently and instead become concrete, with the aggravating circumstance of the many unavailable who continue to cripple Spalletti's race (also positive for Covid). Allegri therefore feels an air of rapprochement, even though he too has to do without Chiellini and Bonucci, but above all play with the market's sword of Damocles.
"Morata does not leave, I spoke to him and told him he can't go away – the Juventus coach glossed over – To find someone worthy of him we should take one of the 4 or 5 best strikers in Europe. I repeat: Alvaro remains, speech closed ". Clear words, which seem to leave no room for any second thoughts, probably daughters of the difficulties in reaching Icardi, at least at the moment. In the meantime, however, there is a game to be won, to start off a busy period in the best possible way, which will see the bianconeri also face Roma and Inter in the space of 6 days.
Allegri will rely on a 4-3-3 with Szczesny in goal, Cuadrado, Rugani, De Ligt and Alex Sandro in defense, McKennie, Locatelli and Rabiot in midfield, Chiesa, Morata and Bernardeschi in attack. 4-2-3-1 full of question marks instead for Spalletti: if Zielinski, Lobotka and Rrahmani can play they will, vice versa we will see Ospina between the posts, Zanoli, Di Lorenzo, Juan Jesus and Ghoulam in the back department, Demme and Elmas in the midfield, Politano, Mertens and Insigne (by the way: on Monday his transfer to Toronto for next season will become official) behind the lone striker Petagna.
The other hot match of the Epiphany is that of San Siro, where Milan and Rome they will face each other (18.30 pm) to look for a place in the sun. Different goals for Pioli and Mourinho, but both ambitious: the Rossoneri are trying not to lose ground from Inter leaders, the Giallorossi trying to stay in the Champions League. “We want to win as many games as possible and score more points than last year – he confirmed Pioli – We will need a very high-speed second round, our journey only began two years ago and therefore winning a trophy would be exceptional”.
The coach, waiting for some help on the market (the goals are Botman from Lille and Kolo Muani from Nantes), finds Ibrahimovic, Rebic and Leao and Calabria, but loses Calabria, Tomori and Romagnoli due to Covid, as well as Kessié and Bennacer, both engaged in the African Cup. The emergency is therefore total, especially in defence, where it will be necessary to make do with those who remain. The Rossoneri 4-2-3-1 will thus see Maignan in goal, Florenzi, Gabbia, Kalulu and Hernandez in defence, Tonali and Krunic in midfield, Messias, Diaz and Saelemaekers behind the lone striker Giroud, favorite over Ibrahimovic.
Classic 3-5-2 instead for Mourinho, who finds two important players like Pellegrini and El Shaarawy: his Roma will take the field with Rui Patricio between the posts, Mancini, Smalling and Ibanez in the back, Karsdorp, Cristante, Veretout, Pellegrini and Vina in the median, Zaniolo and Abraham in attack.
To complete the day, Asl permitting, they will be Sampdoria-Cagliari (12.30 pm), Spezia-Verona (14.30) Lazio-Empoli (14.30) and Sassuolo v Genoa (16.30), while for Bologna-Inter, Atalanta-Turin, Fiorentina-Udinese and Salernitana-Venice, as mentioned at the beginning, the usual theater of 0-3 at the table will begin, awaiting the inevitable aftermath in the various courts of competence.
