Napoli wins the Italian Super Cup by dominating Bologna in the final in Riyadh. The future of the trophy will be far from Saudi Arabia and with perhaps a different format.
Napoli wins and celebrates. Bologna licks their wounds and postpones their appointment with history because since 1937 they have not won a trophy in two seasons in a row and will have to wait to give an heir to the legendary Arpad Weisz. A clear and deserved victory for the Neapolitans, even a close result if we consider the amount of opportunities that the players of Antonio Conte they created from the parts of a Ravaglia no longer in Superman format.
The suspicion is that the Italian champions had it tied to their fingers last November 9th, the day of the spanking he received at the Dall’Ara and Conte’s escape on the Aventine Hill in Turin: the lowest point of the Neapolitan season which in Riyadh, however, experienced the highest one in terms of quality of performance and because, despite being mistreated by many, in the end he took home the first trophy of the year. De Laurentiis will have a peaceful holiday and it wasn’t a given in the heart of autumn.
Naples, a final dominated from start to finish
There wasn’t even a moment in the final where Bologna gave the feeling of being able to hurt their opponent. It will be debated for a long time whether it was performance anxiety or confirmation of a less than excellent moment: after all, before the winning penalties against Inter, the Bolognese had suffered two defeats and a draw in the championship. Or whether it was Napoli’s pace and organization that stunned Vincenzo Italiano who certainly did not emerge diminished from the Arab trip, but who received a lesson comparable to the one given a month ago.
There are two signatures on the Neapolitan triumph. The first is that of David Neresauthor of the brace that defeated Bologna: since he was fished out from the back of the bench, with a guilty delay, he has become the man of numerical superiority achieved through dribbling and cuts, a rare commodity in today’s football.
And then Rasmus Hojlund who continues to prove that he is worth all the 50 million spent in the blink of an eye by De Laurentiis after Lukaku’s injury in August. When he starts at speed attacking defenses in depth, the Dane is simply unstoppable: De Winter was ridiculed, but Italiano’s defenders didn’t fare any better either. The curiosity is to understand what Conte will do now that Lukaku is getting closer to returning: how can he give up ownership of Hojlund?
And now the format of the Italian Super Cup returns to the old one…
Closing for Black Monday of the Lega Calcio Serie A. A couple of weeks after triumphantly announcing that the Australian trip to Milan-Como was alive and well, despite rumors to the contrary, he had to write a joint statement with the local government to explain that we will stay at home. No trip to Perth, in the end the no side triumphed and preferred to spread a series of trap requests along the path towards Australia rather than say frankly that it shouldn’t be done. Not the best in terms of image for anyone. It will be played at San Siro on the first day after February 8th that is possible. Amen.
As for the Italian Super Cup, after defending the four-a-side format from criticism, Lega president Simonelli admitted that next year almost certainly “we will return to the original spirit”: Italian champions against winners of the Italian Cup. No Saudi Arabia (but it’s no one’s fault here), a dry challenge for sale to the highest bidder leaving a feeling of a certain irresolution.
