Earthquake Champions. Lazio's victory at San Siro sensationally tangles the fight for third and fourth place, which now sees five teams involved in as many points. A captivating scenario, all the more so with a midweek match upon us (it starts tomorrow with Milan-Udinese and Cagliari-Juventus) destined to give new emotions and, perhaps, further jolts to the standings.
Certainly the absolute winner of the day is Inzaghi's team, which in projections are even fourth, albeit on a par with Milan: the game to be recovered against Udinese (April 17) allows them to see the coveted Champions place, much more than Romanist cousins can do, returning from yet another fool of a season so far disastrous.
Even Milan, however, has little to laugh about: the knockout of Milan on Saturday was joined by that of Inter against Lazio, in a night destined to leave a rather clear mark in the history between the club and Spalletti. The coach had taken a big risk by choosing not to call up Icardi and the result certainly didn't prove him right.
Not only that: the press conference took place immediately after the match and here Luciano increased the dose, confirming that the case, if there were still any doubts, is far from the happy ending hoped for by the club. "Today Mauro Icardi has to stay out for how he behaved, it's right for the others to play - the broadside in front of the microphones - It's a question of credibility, mediating with a player to get him to play and wear the Inter shirt is humiliating, towards the fans and team mates”.
Very harsh words that provoked the reply of Wanda Nara, present as every Sunday in the Mediaset TV lounge. "Mauro is used to hearing so many things, he just wants to score and do good for Inter – retorted the attacker's wife-agent – He's ready, now it just depends on the coach".
In all this little theater there is a risk of overshadowing the match, which the Nerazzurri unfortunately threw away on the very evening in which they could close the Champions League discussion. Winning would have meant securing third place, so fourth place is no longer safe either. The fault of a goal conceded after just 13' (header by Milinkovic-Savic on a cross by Luis Alberto) which Spalletti's team was unable to remedy, despite a territorial dominance that produced a lot of smoke and very little fire.
In fact, that was all Lazio given that Handanovic, guilty like Brozovic on the occasion of the goal, kept the barrack together with at least three decisive interventions, in order, on Bastos, Caicedo and Immobile. All that remains for Inter is to collect another defeat (the eighth of this championship) and project ourselves on the matches against Genoa (Wednesday at the Marassi) and Atalanta (Sunday at the San Siro): in fact, failing even those could cost very dearly.
The other big defeat this Sunday is definitely Roma, who came out with broken bones from a match that was supposed to relaunch them in a Champions League key and which instead, in the light of the result and performance, distances them even further from the goal. In fact, the 4-1 final, in addition to certifying the total supremacy of Napoli, gives a good idea of how Ranieri's team is now in free fall, if possible even worse than Di Francesco's management.
And so the game of the possible approach to fourth place has turned into yet another fool, even if it is fair to underline the merits of Ancelotti's Azzurri, who have returned to the levels of last season. “We're trying but working like this is difficult – Ranieri admitted disconsolately – The boys tell me that they haven't been able to train much, have had many injuries and played too many games. I feel inside a boat that I just got on, I will try to put it in port as soon as possible. In any case, I don't regret having accepted the job, but now we have to isolate ourselves because we will have two races in a few days".
The aforementioned (Fiorentina at the Olimpico and Sampdoria at Marassi) will be extremely important, if not decisive, however it is clear that the approach will have to be very different from yesterday, where only one episode (Perotti's penalty in the 45th minute) had balance a match addressed already in the 2nd minute with Milik. In the second half, however, the clear blue superiority emerged: Mertens (50') and Verdi (55') landed two very heavy punches against the Ranieri gang, the knockout instead came from Younes (82'), sanctioning the poker of the Naples and the challenge of the Giallorossi Olimpico.
“I was expecting a match like this, I had already had positive responses in training – Ancelotti's analysis – We deserved a wider lead already in the first half, we still have to improve on this. Let's continue like this, if we want to get the best out of the clash with Arsenal we need to maintain this intensity”.
