Five teams in seven points (plus the unknown Juve) to share the spoils of the three remaining Champions places. Up front, Napoli are on an exaggerated run towards their third Scudetto, the first after Maradona, with even higher numbers. With 11 rounds to go, Serie A has few certainties and many unknowns, many disappointing notes and few satisfactory ones.
The most negative comes from the national team, ousted from two World Cups and who began their European journey with a knockout against the English, with an inadequate squad at high levels, especially due to the shortage of forwards. However, there is also a downside, with an important note that weighs a lot: it is the boom in European cups, in the wake of Roma’s victory in the Conference last year, the last born.
But this year there are six teams in the quarter-finals, with one (among Napoli, Milan and Inter) having concrete hopes of reaching the prestigious Champions League final, 13 years after Inter’s triumph with Mourinho’s treble.
The Napoli of Spalletti, Osimhen and Kvara, the new space couple now feared throughout Europe, has created an abyss behind them with fantastic numbers: only two knockouts (with Inter and Lazio), 8 points left on the street out of 81, + 48 on goal difference, 14 points more than last year, Osimhen top scorer with 21 goals in 23 games. Maradona’s Napoli had never reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and Spalletti can leave his mark with three other records: the advantage over the runners-up (up to now +22 from Inter in 2007), the final points (102 from Conte’s Juve in 2014 ), the title in advance (there is also the Grande Torino among the champion teams with five rounds to go).
Behind him, Lazio have lost 5 times, Milan 7, Atalanta and Roma 8, Inter 9. The Champions League sprint is outlined more by thuds and brakes than by glittering victories. After the success against Inter and Rome, Sarri’s Lazio, still without Immobile, flew away to second place with the wind in their sails and the advantage of having only 5 matches in April: the same scenario also for Atalanta (which however has 7 points less), while Milan and Rome (with Napoli) have 7, two less than Inter and Juventus (as well as Fiorentina) also involved in the Italian Cup. And Juve is precisely the unknown factor in the Champions League sprint: they would have won 56 points on the pitch, many of which after the 15 penalty.
In the meantime, however, each team has its problems. Inter trust Inzaghi less and less, struggling with the recovery of form of Lukaku and Brozovic and with a substantial depreciation of the players’ capital. Similar speech for Pioli’s Milan who, after the Scudetto hangover, had ups and downs, with performance down in all departments. Roma are paying for Abraham’s regression, Wijnaldum and Pellegrini’s injuries, the excessive animosity of Mourinho’s protests and his staff. Gasperini’s rejuvenated Atalanta seemed out of the game, which is back competitive and is preparing to make prodigious capital gains with the new Lookman and Holjund jewels.
If Juve were to incur new sanctions, seventh place would again be contestable, which could be worth the Conference: the sprint would be very balanced given that there are five teams in two points (Udinese, Fiorentina, Bologna, Turin and Sassuolo). A lot also seems to be outlined in the queue, despite a recent awakening: Sampdoria and Cremonese are 11 and 9 points behind the fourth from last place of Spezia. The only one that could become the protagonist of a complicated comeback is Verona, who are -5 from the Ligurians, but have not won for two months and have only won one point in the two direct clashes.
Source: Ansa
Brayden White, a veteran sports writer at Global Happening, brings his wealth of knowledge and expertise to the sports section. With over a decade of experience, he is committed to delivering high-quality coverage of the latest games and events.
