Once upon a time there were the Bigs: Lazio beats Napoli again and Atalanta remains alone in the lead

But it is still Atalanta that makes the headlines. It has become, in addition to being the leader, a solid reality that cannot be ignored. Up until a few weeks ago, we used to joke a bit with the Dea: it seemed like a brilliant friend, very good, but in the end not very concrete. An artist, in short, who could not really be a rival of the big names. At most, she was a luxury provincial player, destined to return to the ranks.

Even the conquest of the Europa League had not detached us from this twentieth-century football cliché reminiscent of other famous meteors of the past, who also won the Scudetto, such as Osvaldo Bagnoli's Verona and Gigi Riva's Cagliari.

But that was a different football. Atalanta, on the other hand, is well into these times. Its no longer a surprise, but a long wave that we will have to reckon with for quite a while. And not so much for the nine victories in a row, the prolificness of the attack and the record number of points won so far. Important numbers, certainly, but they don't tell the whole story.

The real news, however, is another: that Atalanta, as a team and also as a club, has become a virtuous model to be inspired by. Starting with the scheme - a competitive squad with a healthy balance sheet - that the other powerful clubs in Serie A just cannot manage to make their own, or at least attempt to copy.

La Dea is not crazy about capricious stars with pharaonic salaries. On the contrary, as soon as it has one who rises to the top, it willingly gives him up, preferring players in search of revenge such as the two former players that everyone now envies: the Belgian De Ketelaere, the real star of this championship, and the Roma player Zaniolo, who, by now, no one in Italy wanted anymore. Gasperini, well supported by president Percassi, does not lose his head for anyone.

Look at Koopmeiners' exit: it looked like a painful loss. But now who thinks about the Dutchman anymore? With the likes of Ederson and De Roon in the build-up and bombers like Retegui and Lookman up front, any regrets vanish. Of course then you have to know how to move, and make consistent choices, but at least there is a logical framework behind it, a 'vision' that very few big teams currently have. Naturally, doubts remain. Because power, if you are not used to it, wears you down a bit. But by now Atalanta has got used to being at the top. You can see it in Europe where it faces anyone with an open face. Tomorrow with the charismatic Real Madrid. Who do you think is more worried: Ancelotti or Gasperini?

The one who is getting better and better is Inter. It is now third with 31 points, but its growth is constant. The 3-1 with Parma does not tell the whole story of the Nerazzurri's overwhelming superiority. Inter is chasing, but its attitude is that of a leader. Parma are not an easily tamed opponent, but at the San Siro they hardly saw a ball. The Nerazzurri's pace is that of someone who knows that sooner or later he will score. And it doesn't matter that it is not Lautaro (still searching for himself) who scores. In the current Inter team, as in a cooperative, everyone goes in goal: Dimarco, Barella, Thuram. In addition, Inzaghi has a nice advantage: he basically has two teams. If, in Juve, there is no Bremer in defence, it shows almost immediately. Inter, on the other hand, can afford to leave Calhanoglu out and nothing happens. Ditto for Lautaro. They know he's a goal machine, sooner or later he'll get back to scoring.

Take Juve or Milan. Leao is always under scrutiny, not even a debutant. And Vlahovic? There isn't a match where he isn't accused of some blunder. Inter's strength can be seen in his confidence. An awareness that can allow it to play on two fronts without too much trouble.

As for Juve, what can I say? Nine draws in fifteen matches is not a good calling card. Memory doesn't help us, but in Juventus' history, we don't remember other precedents. And with Bologna it went well: coming back from two goals down was almost a feat. A team without a head or tail, that of Motta, whose exaggerated nervousness (expelled for protests) certainly did not help. Blaming the referees is almost always a sign of weakness, and it is no coincidence that Paulo Fonseca, after the defeat to Atalanta, went into a rage against referee La Penna, accusing him of directing the match against Milan.

'There is no respect,' thundered the Portuguese coach, infuriating the referee management, who naturally did not like it. Too bad, in these times for the Rossoneri, it would be better to keep them quiet. Fonseca was referring to De Ketelaere's alleged foul on Teo Hernandez on the occasion of the first Orobico goal. Apart from the fact that you've never seen a defender who, on a set-piece kick, puts his back to the striker, however, Milan's fourth defeat of the season did not depend solely on that episode. Morata said as much.

Milan is strange: it alternates good games with little explainable falls. As inexplicable as its defensive frailties, especially on set pieces. After Leao, now under fire is Teo Hernandez, who has long been a shadow of his former self. The impression is that Fonseca raises fuss in order to deflect from the most painful issues, not least that of a society with little presence and little foresight in its purchases.