Serie A is in chaos. The postponement of six matches decided by Lega Calcio (last night Sampdoria-Verona was added, despite the governor of Liguria Toti having given the go-ahead for closed doors), among which Juventus-Inter stands out, triggered a real vortex of controversy, from which the leaders of the ball are struggling to get out.
Because one thing is certain: if the 26th day, from the weekend just ended, should really slip to May 13th (therefore between the third from last and the penultimate) the championship would be distorted. The point here is not in favor of whom, but to understand that two and a half months are too long to be able to guarantee uniformity between those who have already played and those who have yet to play.
The speech does not only apply to the championship fight but to any goal, as demonstrated by the piqued declarations of Liverani, Gattuso, Fonseca and Cellino, who did not really go down with the second consecutive day split in half. However, the mother of all battles took place over Juventus-Inter, with the Nerazzurri CEO Marotta and the leaders of the Lega Calcio dueling with the sound of interviews and fiery declarations.
After the attack by the Inter manager on Saturday, it arrived yesterday the reply of the president of via Rosellini Dal Pino ("we had proposed the postponement to this Monday, he said no: now assume your responsibilities and don't talk about a distorted championship or sportsmanship"), to which Marotta, in turn, replied in kind ("the idea of playing this Monday was provocative and inadmissible").
But beyond the reasons and personal interests, it is clear that this situation must be resolved in everyone's interest: Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna have in fact extended the measures to contain the virus until Sunday 8 March, Verona-Naples day , Bologna-Juventus and, above all, Inter-Sassuolo.
The nerazzurri already have two games to recover, one of which, at the moment, without a date available: thinking of skipping a third (Marotta has categorically ruled out playing it behind closed doors) would definitely blow the bank, and therefore the championship. The only way to put things right (or at least patch them up) is to play the Derby d'Italia as soon as possible, so that spirits calm down and football can start entertaining people again, an element that is less secondary than one might think at first sight.
"We will find a better solution within one week” promised the president of Coni Malagò, even if, in all likelihood, it will not be the one invoked by the Minister of Sport Vincenzo Spadafora. “The semi-finals of the Coppa Italia this week could be postponed and the matches immediately recovered – his proposal. – However, I want to clarify that it is the Lega Calcio that decides independently, we have only said two things: either the game was played behind closed doors or it was postponed … ".
The idea, also supported by Napoli and accepted by both Milan and Juve (the three involved in the Cup), however found opposition from Inter, who were far from happy with the idea of a match with open doors, but only for residents in Piedmont. In fact, playing the day after tomorrow would not allow the presence of Lombard fans, even if it is fair to remember that yesterday, in Lecce, there were several Bergamo players to admire their Atalanta.
The "solution" they are thinking of in the League is another and provides for the recovery of the 26th next weekend, with Juventus-Inter on Monday 9 (therefore measures, hopefully, finished) and the 27th postponed to the now famous 13 May: in this way, even if the calendar is altered, the championship challenge would be played. The decision shouldn't arrive before Wednesday, when an extraordinary Lega assembly will be held in via Rosellini which promises to be fiery as it hasn't happened for years.
In anticipation of this, there remain some questions that are unanswered.
1) Why wasn't it decided immediately to postpone the entire day, thus avoiding further altering a classification that was already out of phase since last weekend?
2) Is it possible that, with a week to evaluate, we have reached Saturday morning to postpone some games?
3) Is it then true that a Juve-Inter match behind closed doors would have damaged Italy's image more than this chaos?
4) If not even a health emergency of this kind can put self-interest aside, what else can?
In all of this, two games were played yesterday, and what games! Lecce-Atalanta e Cagliari-Rome they offered 16 overall goals, 9 at the Via del Mare in the umpteenth Bergamo goal (7-2 with a hat-trick from Zapata) and 7 at the Sardegna Arena in the fireworks 4-3 with which Fonseca's Giallorossi took the 3 points (brace by Kalinic). Results that leave the Champions League unchanged (at least that one!), but which above all remind us of the true purpose of football: to entertain the fans. It's not rhetoric, just a bitter consideration: the opportunity to offer a few hours of leisure to those who, in one way or another, are experiencing an emergency situation, has instead turned into the most sensational of own goals.
