Inzaghi must be able to save his energy and legs for Europe. The three Napoli coaches? It matters more that Osimhen is there
– Milan
You won’t believe it, but finally all Serie A teams have played the same number of games: twenty-six. To read the ranking we will no longer need to delve into improbable calculations, nor launch ourselves into rash predictions: if he wins the recovery… if instead he loses it… None of this, now the photograph of the championship in front of us is real, the protagonists are all equal. For matches played, obviously, not for points. Here the story is another, completely different, and it says one very clear thing: Inter, first, 69; Juventus, second, 57. Plus twelve. A verdict.
internal roller
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Inter’s numbers are impressive, as is the completeness of the Nerazzurri: play, results, defensive solidity, offensive production, spectacle, ruthlessness, alternatives, continuity. And Lautaro, yes: the goal with which he defeated Atalanta’s last resistance was crazy, a shot with which he surprised Carnesecchi and all of us. It seems like we went back a year, when we celebrated the invincibility of Napoli which, on the twenty-sixth matchday, was even going a little slower than this Inter: it had 68 points, one less than the Inzaghi gang, and yet it was closer to the scudetto because the second in the standings (the Nerazzurri) were as much as 18 points behind.
Inter and the Champions League
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If Spalletti’s Napoli has taught a lesson that this great Inter can benefit from, this lesson is linked to the Champions League. The Azzurri have never slowed down in the championship, they have never taken a breath, they have never saved energy. And they arrived at the decisive phase of the Cup – the quarter-finals against Milan – at the worst moment of their year, a little tired and a little bruised, starting with Osimhen. In a still historic season, Napoli perhaps remains with the regret of not having played the Champions League to the best of their ability. This is why Inzaghi, now that he has the scudetto in his hands, must try to manage his forces in the championship. The road to the second star is clear, steeply downhill, but this Inter can also compete for the Champions League. It is not the favourite, because today no one can consider themselves superior to City and Real, but it is capable of competing with anyone. It would be extraordinary if he did it with all his starters in ideal conditions.
the osimhen factor
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We – understood as football fans of all kinds – love to talk about coaches, as if they were the ones who decide the fate of a team, a championship, a Champions League. Then you stumble across Osimhen and realize that it’s not exactly like that. Whoever is on the bench counts, of course, but no coach transforms a brocco into a champion, nor vice versa. The difference, in the end, is made by the great footballers, such as the Nigerian centre-forward: he returned from the African Cup of Nations and was not even in good athletic condition, yet in three matches, played in the space of a week, he had already scored five goals. Sassuolo is in a dire crisis, it’s true, but he also put it into action against Cagliari and especially Barcelona, keeping Napoli in the running for qualification for the Cup quarter-finals. Will they be able to piss off Mazzarri, who has never had him at his disposal since Christmas, and who only saw him again on television when Calzona was the coach of the Azzurri?
continuity Naples
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Osimhen won’t continue to score one, two or three goals per game, we imagine, but with him on the pitch Napoli has another, much more beautiful side. If you then add the flashes of Kvaratskhelia to Victor’s goals, it is normal that a bit of optimism returns. It is logical, now, to ask whether the Azzurri will be able to get back into the running for the Champions League. The gap from fourth place Bologna is very wide, eight points, but there are also many useful days to recover, twelve; nor should it be forgotten that we could manage to qualify five teams for the Champions League, and at that point the distance from Atalanta, which occupies fifth place, would be six points. And coming up for Napoli is the match against Juve.
Sassuolo and surroundings
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Instead, Sassuolo’s situation is becoming desperate, or almost desperate, and is deteriorating like no one could have ever imagined. Bigica, sent to the bench in place of Dionisi, failed to make any breakthrough, confirming that the team has lost confidence, strength, depth and conviction regardless of who coaches it. The defeat against Napoli was sensational due to the size of the result and the quantity of technical errors. Salvation for the Emilians is now very complicated, Sunday’s match in Verona – on a day in which the last eight of the table play each other – takes on dramatic sporting contours.
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