Why do you try to feed a pious hope of reopening a Serie A already in Naples?

The results of the 25th day of Serie A

Sassuolo-Cremonese 3-2 26′ Laurienté, 41′ Frattesi, 62′, 83′ Dessers (C), 92′ Bajrami
Turin-Bologna 1-0 22′ Karamoh

Napoli-Lazio 0-1 67′ Vecino
Monza-Empoli 2-1 19′ Ciurria, 51′ Satriano (E), 67′ Izzo
Atalanta-Udinese 0-0
Fiorentina-Milan 2-1 49′ pen. N. González, 87′ Jovic, 95′ Theo Hernández (M)
Spezia-Verona 0-0
Sampdoria-Salernitana 0-0
Inter 2-0 Lecce 29′ Mkhitaryan, 53′ Lautaro Martínez
Roma-Juventus 1-0 53′ Mancini

The Serie A standings after 25 days

Naples 65; Inter 50; Lazio 48; Rome and Milan 47; Atalanta 42; Juventus (-15) and Bologna 35; Turin 34; Udinese and Monza 32; Fiorentina 31; Sassuolo 30; Empoli 28; Lecce 27; Salerno 25
Spice 21; Verona 18; Cremonese and Sampdoria 12.

Because the aleatory breeze that is gulfing Naples’ third championship will be short-lived

For some days, but perhaps since before, a strange soldier has been advancing. The suspicion that Napoli, after the well-deserved defeat against Lazio, may also lose the match that will see them face off against Atalanta, then the next one at home with Milan, and perhaps the others in the cartel, favoring a clamorous comeback by the Milanese and, why not, of the Romans. Memes, sketchy tables, sketch from reel, everything contributes to fueling a pious hope of reopening the championship. But the worm doesn’t take into account many realities: first of all the classification, which the Neapolitans have been dominating since the beginning with 15 points ahead of the second. Then the game, not at all tarnished by the match against the biancocelesti: Maurizio Sarri’s team is already there in a nutshell a Napoli 2, due to tactical disposition and integration of some elements (Elseid Hysaj, soon perhaps also Piotr Zieliński). So the state of health of the contenders: Milan and Inter no longer know how to score consecutive victories, each stop always corresponds to another start. Not to mention Atalanta, reduced to 0-0 internally by the strong-willed Udinese. Finally the parallel with 1988: then the locker room was split, now there is no sign of any mutiny against Luciano Spalletti, also skilled in giving space to everyone. It’s nice to think that everyone is looking for drafts and glimmers so as not to close the reasons for the tournament, but it seems more like a wishful thinking what else: great calm therefore, Napoli (as the already printed flags state) will soon win their third scudetto. And ban superstition, we are in 2023.

Because it is appropriate to recover Giacomo Raspadori and Giovanni Simeone among the protagonists

A couple of ghosts, decidedly more concrete, hover around the training center of Castel Volturno. Giacomo Raspadori – now injured – and Giovanni Simeone had started the season, and their adventure in the Gulf, with the best auspices: heavy goals, level performances, sudden integration. Then, only remnants of the match, even in atypical roles for the young Italian, and a constant loss of relevance in the highly oiled mechanisms of the team that is killing the championship. If Cholito has responded present to every call, returning decisive in the victory against Roma, Raspadori – born in 2000, but he already seems like a veteran – will have to have great calm and wait for the end of the season to possibly enjoy some consideration. A pity, given the high investment that Roberto Mancini’s national team had also made on him, dressing him in blue in the triumphant European expedition and giving him the keys to the attack against England and Hungary in the Nations League. Speeches that also apply to Federico Gatti, bought with the sound of the trumpet from Juventus and soon set aside on the bench to make room for the Brazilian certainties of the defence. It will be necessary to return to it, so that the heritage is not dispersed and the “ancient vase” is brought to safety.

Because the certainties of the standings are making it the championship of details and what if

Arrived at two thirds of the season in Serie A, on the day of the three zero to zero (and the three Juventus poles) the weekly reasons of interest change their skin. From the thinning out of the general picture fragmented moments are extracted, futuristic conversations, marginal notes waiting to be developed: for example, even considering the next day’s report cards, few have reported that Charles de Ketelaere, a mysterious object discussed during the long AC Milan winter, played his best game in Florence for a few months now. And essentially it is due to the more decentralized role that he was asked to fill, as happened in the exploits at Bruges: the man jumps from outside, creates numerical superiority, puts in good crosses and above all loses fewer balls. We can say we predicted it ahead of time, but it’s better to get there anyway. For a CdK that shyly reappears, Ademola Lookman refuses: the elf from Bergamo hasn’t scored for almost a month and a half, after having pulled the cart for whole days. Great calm, it is certainly only a momentary tarnish. On the other hand, the one who is exploding after being cultivated and awaited – in the same way as his compatriot and equal role Tressoldi – is the Brazilian defender Igor Julio dos Santos, by now almost always immovable in Fiorentina, who annulled Olivier Giroud as he had recently done with other center forwards of rank. And two young goalkeepers, Simone Perilli and Samuele Perisan, made their debut with sympathy and profit, who did not disfigure or make the prestigious owners regret. By now it’s all Var, always Var: did you score? Great calm.

Because it is necessary to protect instinct and find space for it even in delicate roles: the Junior Sambia case

Speaking of ghosts, for a good part of the tournament Salernitana’s internal turmoil tried in various ways to cover the right wing, with four-defenders or three-defender setups, moving Antonio Candreva back or forward, without ever resorting to the services of (Salomon) Junior Sambia, bought by Montpellier during the summer. And yet, when Davide Nicola first and Paulo Sousa then resorted to it, they discovered a completely different prospectus from the standard they are used to. The 26-year-old Frenchman, saved in extremis since Covid, he has been playing naive football: he combs the ball with his sole, he wants to shoot from forty meters and does it with a rebound, almost succeeding. He also takes us on free-kick: long levers, lots of leaps. Instinctive, Sabirian. Name dancer, Brazilian. If he’s in the day he becomes a hero, Josimar. But great calmbecause now Pasquale Mazzocchi is returning to full capacity, a train capable of insertions both on the right and on the left: if Candreva remains behind the striker, we will continue to see some good ones thanks to the one who was not seen arriving.

Because the return of the Champions League round of 16 and the other cups can change something

From Tuesday to Thursday, and then next week, the European cups are back on stage. Never, in recent years, have so many Italian teams in their hands the concrete potential to overcome the respective round: if Napoli should not have problems in settling Eintracht Frankfurt at home, difficult – but not impossible – they save themselves in front of Inter and Milan the transfers of Porto and London, side Tottenham. The analogous 1-0 home wins obviously don’t leave you calm, but allow the Milanese to play the game they are more used to: and, above all, the Portuguese are not really champions in developing their own offensive game compared to what they know how to play as a throw-in. Antonio Conte’s attack, on the other hand, is brilliant but the defense and midfield are completely affordable for the Rossoneri forwards, where the form conditions are up to the well-known continental DNA. Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina have won equally surmountable opponents, a little less Roma with Real Sociedad launched towards qualification for the Champions League: the greatest risk, in fact, lies in taking these meetings lightly and perhaps making calculations training and turnover. So great calm and play to the max, because if someone were to fall, the alibis wouldn’t hold up.