The championship match at San Siro showcased the best of Serie A. This is why it is a spectacle that Inter and Napoli must also export to the Champions League.
Apart from Conte’s drama, which has very little English and in fact recalls similar ones he exported across the Channel, the night at San Siro which kept Napoli attached to the Scudetto and Inter to their regrets was a great commercial for Italian football. A lot was played and at a high pace, thanks to all the protagonists who for one evening left aside hysteria and exasperated tactics to try to outdo each other. The draw was the exact snapshot of the match and the only coincidence was that the two teams found the way to the goal in their opponent’s best moments.
Serie A must thank Inter and Napoli for the spectacle exported all over the world. Casual observers will have struggled to distinguish it from many of the top international matches and the hope is that Chivu and Conte will be able to reverse the quality and physicality shown in the championship in Europe too. For Inter there aren’t many doubts, given that even the defeats against Atletico Madrid and Liverpool came at the end of convincing performances, while for Napoli the trip to Copenhagen and the subsequent meeting with Chelsea will sound like an appeal after a disappointing autumn.
Some flashes of the night to be proud of: the first whistle from referee Doveri after a good quarter of an hour of the match and from then on the same measure that is usually found in Champions League matches. The ability of the players to adapt to the rhythm, the respect even in the harshness of some moments and the refusal for both teams to accept defeat. It is good to remove the veil from hypocrisy: had Inter won, the championship would have been significantly oriented towards Appiano Gentile. Instead everything remained open.
Inside the challenge chest, some excellences. McTominay under Conte’s care he has become a complete midfielder and we must not forget the extra efforts he is taking on to cover the limits of a squad that is currently reduced to the bare bones, Hojlund he stole the eye, Dimarco confirmed to be a top winger in Europe. The widespread feeling is that Inter are stronger but that they have not yet found the formula to exploit their potential. And that Napoli have entirely absorbed the character of their coach.
In the long run it could be a problem for a group like the Nerazzurri who are intimately convinced of having thrown away a couple of championships in recent years. Some of the protagonists have even verbalized it, it is not necessarily true but it is a crack in the certainties that Conte can try to slip into between now and May. After all, it also happens in Europe, where differences often flatten out.
