Milan, Inter and Juventus, this is how they will try to take back Napoli-Corriere.it

We start again just as we left off: running. A football binge will welcome this 2023: from January 4th to February 26th there will be no respite. Six teams could play up to 13 games in 53-55 days, one every four, without the possibility of recovering energy in the coldest months of the year, with heavy pitches and the exponential risk of injuries. It will be a delicate moment, with six direct clashes, before final rush. The central and decisive phase of the season seasoned with the unknowns for a winter break that has never been so long, the aftermath of the World Cup and the tensions of the open market. Not to mention that halfway through this tour de force, i.e. in 4 championship days, the halfway point will be reached and the winter championship will be awarded even if, given how the standings are, it is difficult to imagine that it can escape Napoli.

January will clarify the situation better. In the next 5 days, the leaders will visit Inter and host Juventus and Rome. If he survives this string of matches unscathed, completed by the away games at Marassi with Sampdoria and at Salernitana’s home in the Campania derby, Spalletti will have gained a great advantage. But winter is not Luciano’s favorite season, even if it defies any rule or forecast. Will it recover in the sign of continuity or will the balance change? If you ask who is in front and who is called to chase.

Milan, second with 8 points, know that to get their hands on the twentieth Scudetto in their history, they need an exploit. Il Diavolo is one of the 6 teams that risk, indeed hope, to have more games in the next two months. 12 are certain and will become 13 if the Rossoneri hit the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup: 9 of the championship, one or two of the Italian Cup, one of the Champions League and the Super Cup, on 18 January in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which will lead to an overload of stress considering the length of the trip. The same goes for Inter, fourth on a par with Lazio and 11 points away from the top of the standings. Inzaghi does not give up and counts on the recovery of Lukaku, but from here on out he won’t be able to afford any slip-ups. A half mistake can be worth the season. Even Inter, like Milan, can reach 13 matches in the Supercoppa derby. In these two months of passion there will be two Milan derbies, the second in the league, 18 days after the one that will assign the first title of the season. The coaches will be central figures in this complicated and stressful moment: they will have to manage the turnover, the mood swings caused by the market, harmonize the preparation between those who have rested and those who have gone to Qatar and never stopped.

It will be curious to understand how Juve will start again, which after many vicissitudes had found themselves winning the last 6 games without conceding a goal. Allegri is third, 10 points from the top and there are many observers who consider the bianconeri to be anti-Naples. In the meantime, society has been overwhelmed by scandal, zeroed in men and dignity. An investigation with a thousand ramifications that threatens to affect the team. The hopes are the full-time return of Chiesa and the enthusiasm of the world champion Di Maria (also Paredes champion but much less central to the Juventus project), the unknown Pogba whose images in the snow have angered the fans of the Lady and the groin pain that torments Vlahovic certainly out against Cremonese and Udinese and probably in Naples. Juve are also awaiting a tour de force: 9 league games including the derby against Turin, 2 (maybe) in the Coppa Italia and the playoffs Europa League against the French of Nantes. Same music for Rome, in Europe opposed to the uncomfortable Austrians of Salzburg. Thirteen could also be the matches for Lazio and Fiorentina who are waiting for the Conference playoffs respectively against the Romanians of Cluj and the formidable Portuguese of Braga. We start again without stopping, without certainties and without knowing how it will end. And the beauty of a championship that we missed a lot.