Chivu’s team overturns Como and extends their lead over Napoli: they are now 9 points ahead with 6 matches to go. And the tricolor travels towards Milan…
There was a moment when Como’s blue wave overwhelmed Inter, fueling Napoli’s remorse. Then the future Italian champions reached the quarter of an hour and on the banks of the Lario Chivu’s team took the victory that splits the championship sprint in two. It was the crossroads favorable to Conte and the league leaders emerged with a 9-point advantage with 6 matches remaining in the championship. There’s no point in going around it: the Italian sprint had reopened but the long-distance ping pong between Tardini and Sinigaglia sealed it.
In the most difficult moment Inter found the furious reaction signed by Thuram And Dumfries. The Frenchman, orphan of Lautaro Martinez, took charge of the uncertainties of the Como defence, which nominally would be the best in Serie A but too often indulges in unforgivable frivolities as well as Fabregas’ entire match plan: the comeback in the second half was reminiscent of Milan’s turnaround near Lake Como in January. The Flying Dutchman, however, is back from last season’s Champions League run, an unstoppable caterpillar in dead ball actions.
Chivu laughs, Conte cries. The reality is that Rome and Como represented two high and impervious peaks to climb for a team that got there with the engine off: having climbed over them with a full haul and an abundance of goals (9 in 180 minutes) erases any debate on the physical and mental stability of the Nerazzurri. Technical superiority was never in question. The verdict is missing the accounting of the arithmetic but now the picture is clear.
Naples, so many regrets for Parma’s misstep
And Napoli? Conte tried to dilute the disappointment of the draw in Parma by not closing the dream of the championship, simply sending the ball back to the other field. That of Inter, who then responded furiously. However, it is legitimate to ask a few questions about the Neapolitans who at the Tardini completely misapproached and carried out the match which could have really changed the face of the Italian sprint.
A defect that suddenly resurfaced and which had already negatively affected the initial part of the season, before the mountain of injuries and the free fall in the league and Europe caused the focus to change. The feeling is that the goal given to Strefezza immediately and the sterile horizontal ball possession for a large part of the match are the indicator of a malaise for which Conte was unable to find a solution. In Parma they were on the pitch at the same time Fab4 and the truth is that since August their simultaneous presence has almost never coincided with a convincing performance.
The calendar continues to be Napoli’s friend: four matches at Maradona (Lazio, Cremonese, Bologna, the closing match against Udinese) interspersed with the trip to Como and the trip to the home side of relegated Pisa. If the Italian champions find continuity it is a menu of potential 16-18 points which means finishing between 82 and 84. Not much for the scudettocertainly more than enough to win the next Champions League and go on holiday with a peaceful soul. But the weekend promised something else and by dint of settling, between one excuse and another, Napoli’s championship slipped away into mediocrity.
