Serie A takes place on the Naples-Rome axis

The results of the 29th day of Serie A

Udinese-Monza 2-2 18′ Lovrić, 48′ Colpani (M), 56′ Rovella (M), 92′ pen. Beto
Fiorentina-Spezia 1-1 25′ auto. Wiśniewski, 32′ Nzola (S)
Atalanta-Bologna 0-2 49′ Samson, 86′ Orsolini
Sampdoria-Cremonese 2-3 15′ Léris (S), 35′ Ghiglione, 66′ Lammers (S), 85′ Lochoshvili, 95′ Sernicola
Turin-Rome 0-1 8′ pen. Dybala
Verona-Sassuolo 2-1 34′ Harroui (S), 84′ Ceccherini, 95′ Gaich
Lazio-Juventus 2-1 38′ S. Milinković-Savić, 42′ Rabiot (J), 53′ Zaccagni
Salernitana-Inter 1-1 6′ Gosens (I), 90′ Candreva
Lecce-Naples 1-2 18′ Di Lorenzo, 52′ Di Francesco (L), 64′ auto. Rooster
Milan-Empoli 0-0

The Serie A standings after 29 days

Naples 74; Lazio 58; Rome 53; Milan 52; Inter 51; Atalanta 48; Juventus 44 (-15); Bologna 43; Fiorentina 41; Udinese 39; Turin 38; Sassuolo 37; Monza 35; Empoli 32; Salerno 29; Lecce 27; spice 26; Verona 22; Cremona 16; Sampdoria 15.

Because Naples calls, Milan doesn’t answer, Rome flies, Europe looms

How much Luigi Necco’s curtains are missing in this accelerated and pressurized era in the highlights packaged by the Football League. Were there still, and above all were he alive, the sly fingers accustomed to signaling Careca and Carnevale’s goals to Gianni Vasino would be back in vogue for the resumption of the Neapolitan ride, more painful than what Lecce’s score says: a sign that some flaw in there actually was, and Victor Osimhen’s descents only masked it. The Nigerian centre-forward will perhaps also be missing on Wednesday evening at San Siro, for the quarter-final of the Champions League against Milan which went dry against Empoli: the Milanese draws (a mockery of Inter’s 1-1 draw in Salerno) say that the European catwalk will be decisive for their future. Great calm, therefore: because if the Nerazzurri and the Rossoneri were to make their way and meet in the semifinals, they could resume their march in the league as well and secure Europe, which also counts for next year. If, on the other hand – as can be predicted on average – they should come out, everything would be possible: from the depression of the cupio dissolvi to the principle of survival, i.e. saving what can be saved in a key to 2024. Meanwhile, in Rome, José Mourinho’s team wins beyond its merits (and has even a Europa League to be honoured) while Maurizio Sarri’s “sees” a second place which at the end of the championship would be miraculous: for now Trilussa mocks Carlo Porta.

Because Bologna can become the new Atalanta, but only if Thiago Motta remains

The team from Bergamo is momentarily off the radar, also the victim of the continuous whirlwind in attack (a weight forward, a fast one, an attacking midfielder? Two weight forwards and a commando? A mobile forward and two wingers?) and the wear of the double defensive axis and central. Bologna’s victory at the stadium that bore the name of the Azzurri d’Italia was blatant: by now there are no more adjectives to define the second round of the rossoblu, a true collective that was welded by emotion for Siniša Mihajlović, but he took off his chalk when Thiago Motta convinced the players – especially in the roles of construction and momentum – that they can alternate in all positions, and that no one (read Nicola Sansone) is excluded from the project. Great calm, however: if in Bergamo the Bolognese gave the impression of being the “Atalanta” of recent years, it is also because when things go well everything is easy. The crossroads between binding to the period and giving continuity is all in the hands of the Bolognese management: if the sporting director Giovanni Sartori and the Italian-Brazilian coach were to marry in more prestigious shores, everything could soon collapse under the two towers. The eventual conquest of a slot in the Conference League, today “only” five points away and occupied by Atalanta (with an inconvenience named Juventus), would be the spur for president Joey Saputo to widen the purse strings and hold first of all the jewels that elbow from the convincing youth sector.

Because it’s nice to read Empoli’s training as they used to be

Speaking of young players, reeling off the eleven that Paolo Zanetti sends onto the pitch every week – and capable of equalizing with merit at Milan’s home – is a spatiotemporal pleasure. Samuele Perisan, Fabiano Parisi, Jacopo Fazzini, Tommaso Baldanzi, Roberto Piccoli, to take over Nicolò Cambiaghi: a new blue generation passes from the Tuscan province, as has often happened in the last twenty years. If we add Koni de Winter (Italian by training in football), Alberto Grassi and Filippo Bandinelli who have recently reached full football maturity, Duccio Degli Innocenti on the launch pad and Emanuel Vignato who is waiting for his moment for when Francesco Caputo will finish the beer , it is natural to sympathize with this Benfica-style project, so against the grain of the looting of the instant team: also and above all because the results arrive, and the team is steadfast above the margins of the safety zone. Great calmhowever: the policy of president Fabrizio Corsi has always been dedicated to transfers to keep the Serie A dispute sustainable over time, therefore the coaches of the youth teams – among the most successful of the last generation – already have the next crash ready.

Because the presence of Guillermo Ochoa in the Italian league is a gift from football

Usual roundup of stickers. The weekly package offers Nemanja Radonjic, who seems to play well only in the first matches of the tournament and the last ones, in search of reconfirmation (did you notice?); then Tommaso Pobega, who is not Paqueta and has yet to calibrate his size. Hence Pietro Terracciano, truly reliable in spite of the saints and those who postulate this or that name for the Porta della Fiorentina without reckoning with his regularity. Finally, the punctual amazement of recognizing Guillermo Ochoa’s curly and ringed hair in Serie A, for the first time at almost 38 years of age: catalyst if there is one, yet anti-star, his hand can be found in every scoresheet. Even when Salernitana were to succumb, they always avoided heavier passives: but more often than not, they signed the point or underwrote the victory thanks to extremely decisive interventions, inventing quasi-scorpions (or wrong scorpions) and mastering the goal line like no other his entire goal-non-goal extension. Great calm, on the other hand: despite his age, the Mexican goalkeeper knows he is precarious due to a “token” contract that lasts only six months. And he could go back overseas to end his career: it would be a shame to let him go like this, and not just for his performances.

Because the fans are already frightened by the upcoming summer transfer market

Not wanting to sow discord or alarm, but there is less and less time left for the conclusion of this tournament and operators from all over Europe are certainly also evaluating Serie A among the basins in which to spend, investing appeal and millions unattainable by almost all the local presidents or by the grim anonymous and passionless “funds” except for the arid figures. In Naples, even with the title in their pocket and their eyes turned to the final chapters of the Champions League, they hold their breath to understand if Khvicha Khvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen himself will still play under Vesuvius or rather between Paris and London; the same in Bergamo with Ademola Lookman and Rasmus Højlund who tickled more than one buyers, so in Sassuolo for Armand Laurienté (destined, it seems, to remain elsewhere in Italy). Little can be opposed to the power of money and ambitions, certainly not the foundations of a long-term football project. Great calm, in extremis: the figures that rise, since the market men of Serie A have become smart, could avert some excellent farewells. And in the end, it would also be about to arrive – they say – Martín Retegui, the new and last saver to hold on to.