Serie A first round promoted and rejected: Milan, Inter, Juventus-Corriere.it

An escape with no return. That of Naples is a domain that weighs on the opponents, but for Milan, for Inter and also for the downgraded Juve, it is always better to lose against those who have not won the Scudetto for 33 years than against their historical rivals. Spalletti’s hegemony pleases, like that of an enlightened King: Napoli creates, scores, keeps and always knows which game is best to play, dictating the rules and knowing how to adapt to the context, as they demonstrated well in one of the crucial victories on the pitch Rome. Also for this reason the much awaited challenge on Sunday evening in Fuorigrotta. In the second round, the leaders will have only one direct match away, in Turin with Juve. wrong to take everything for granted, but never before have the Azzurri seemed to have the technical maturity, the depth of the squad and the mental energies necessary to go all the way. From the courageous market choices in the summer, in Naples they haven’t made a wrong move. And the results are irrefutable: no team in the 3-point era finished the first leg with a 12-point lead.

Shrimp step

If the domination continues and there is no real fight for the Scudetto, the Cups will weigh heavily, where all seven are still in the running, but it is clear that the difficult part will come now, between February and March. Out of seventeen teams (therefore excluding the three newly promoted ones) as many as ten have so far scored fewer points than last season. Excluding the collapses, different in the reasons and also in the solutions, of Verona and Sampdoria (-12 for both), the 9 points less than Inter and Fiorentina stand out. Inzaghi’s team has lost Perisic and has almost never had Lukaku, in addition to Brozovic. She started badly, disturbed by the market negotiations on Skriniar for which PSG could now offer just 10 million, certainly not the 50 proposed in June. An error of judgment that could destabilize a fragile balance, because at least one or perhaps two big names could be sacrificed in the summer: there are many months left, but without the Scudetto goal, Inter risks continuing these ups and downs in performance. A risky trend, because in the Italian Cup and the Champions League it is not always easy to find the perfect match and the next rivals, Atalanta and Porto, are ready to play it all the way.

Black crisis

Indeed, Rossoneri. Disturbing numbers accompany the dark thoughts of Stefano Pioli. Milan got lost in this January to be cancelled: they have not won in five games and have scored seven goals in the last two without scoring even one. The old guard seems sad, the new ones don’t integrate, the market didn’t work and the injuries continue to haunt us. In the stadium where last year he had mortgaged the Scudetto, this time he (almost) lost it. The gap seems unbridgeable for a team that no longer exists.
The possible purchase of Zaniolo is not enough
and Ibra is not known when and how he will return.

The new geography

Milan and Inter must think more about defending Champions League gold than the Scudetto. There are five teams for three places and the Milanese opponents, Atalanta and the Romans, seem to be in top form. At the beginning of the second round, the fight for places in Europe that counts promises to give some salt to the championship. Lazio and Roma have respectively 6 and 5 points more than last year and, albeit with different characteristics, indeed at the antipodes, they mark the weight of their ambitions. Sarri has shown through his sparkling game that he can do without Immobile too, Mourinho instead relies on the talent of Dybala and on a team that gives little to the show but knows how to strike at the right moment. The new Atalanta, rejuvenated and reinvigorated, is a small marvel and if it keeps pace in the second round (last year it had given up) it will create problems for all its competitors.

Bull for Europe

We need to understand Juve’s role by taking into account trials and penalties, which will affect the standings but risk having a decisive impact on morale as well. At stake is seventh place, the one that usually gives one in the Conference League. Allegri the logical favorite, especially now that he has found Chiesa and the best Di Maria and is about to recover Vlahovic and Pogba. If the bianconeri are pushed back by new penalties, the race could become between Udinese and Torino. The Friulians, now seventh and with 8 points more than last season, have won only one of the last 11 games. Turin, on the other hand, growing, solid, robust, vertical, with the soul of Juric has shown that it fears no one. The victory in Florence has given us new perspectives and a different awareness, even if we need a few more goals. The goal is Fiorentina’s most obvious problem, 13 less than last year in which the Italian was able to count on the unleashed Vlahovic until January. The Viola, the discontinuous Bologna and Berlusconi’s Monza seem to have something less than the grenades.

Make way for young people

But a long group and the spring balance can be different. The market, on the other hand, is unlikely to condition. Our teams, rather than buying, are committed to defending the few remaining champions. If there is no money, imagination must not be lacking, one must sharpen one’s wits and show courage by launching young people. Whoever did it didn’t get hurt. Mancini, who will resume his journey with the national team in March against England in the hunt for qualification for Euro 2024, is waiting for suggestions. Baldanzi’s goal at the San Siro widened his heart.