Naples vulnerable: Milan, Juve and Inter believe in a comeback

The first place in the standings remains a certainty, but the defeat at San Siro can leave its mark on the heads of Napoli and Spalletti. The Azzurri, who in the first 15 days of the championship had obtained 13 wins and 2 draws and who hadn’t been knocked out in Serie A since the 3-2 draw in Empoli on 24 April, lost for the first time between national borders in this 2022-23 and now they see the ghosts of the past materialize.

Winter title

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The title of winter champions is still within reach because the advantage remains important over Milan (+5), Juventus (+7) and Inter (+8), but in the three rounds left before the round of boa will not be able to make more mistakes. The calendar lends a hand because two of the opponents will be Sampdoria and Salernitana; on the other hand, however, there is the big match against Juventus on Friday the 13th which won’t leave you calm at Castel Volturno. Especially after the San Siro night.

Nightmare January

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In his former stadium, the Certaldo coach expected a different result. Napoli needed it above all on a psychological level, in order not to get… the “little arm” of the tennis player. Everyone was waiting for Di Lorenzo and his companions to test the truth, including Max Allegri who had spoken of “Naples at the moment clearly favored for the tricolor, but after the break we don’t know what can happen…”. The Neapolitans have fenced and are no longer unbeaten: they were the only ones who have never lost in the league in all of Europe. Sooner or later this supremacy had to be shattered, but Spalletti would have preferred to postpone it for a few weeks because drawing or winning against Inter would have meant eliminating (or almost) a direct competitor from the fight for the Scudetto.

Work for Luciano

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Luciano knew it and already from the first half he seemed more tense than usual, generous with (screamed) advice to his followers. Especially when Lukaku and co have created at least four clear chances to take the lead. In the final, with the defeat now matured, he then entered the field to explain to Ndombele what he didn’t like about his performance. No drama, but also the awareness that we need to leave immediately because the away game in Genoa is scheduled for Sunday. In the next three days he will have to work more in the dressing room than on the pitch. More on the head than on the muscles. It is the first crossroads of the season and “Lucio” is aware that his team cannot take the wrong direction in the face of a Doria who has found himself on the Sassuolo field.

Strip interrupted

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Napoli had just returned from 11 straight wins in Serie A and this season they only remained without scoring on 28 August, on the occasion of the away match in Florence, where, however, they avoided defeat (0-0). In the Meazza for the nerazzurri, the top scorer of the championship Osimhen was greatly limited by Acerbi, but Kvara was also stopped, often with the “bad” ones, by Skriniar or Barella. Not received Politano and the other strikers who entered the second half. That’s why the Tuscan coach’s first concern must be to restart… the goal machine which until November 13th had allowed the Azzurri to crush any opponent. No one like them, with 37 goals scored. Now Inter have come close in terms of goals scored (35), but remain distant in the standings (at -8) because they have had a less reliable defence. After the break, however, another championship began… and Inzaghi got off on the right foot, while Spalletti fenced. He remains first, even if he no longer has the granite certainties of a month and a half ago. He had imagined something else for the “debut” in 2023, but from today his goal will be to chase away the ghosts that will inevitably return to hover around Castel Volturno.