The Monday Scratch

The Scudetto race reopens. Genoa's double comeback slows down Napoli. Inter are only one point behind

David Neres (C). Napoli - Genoa. (Ansa)

5' min read

5' min read

Everything else is boredom.

Antonio Conte had said this on the eve of Napoli-Genoa to emphasise that the only thing that really counts in football is victory, the final goal. The Scudetto, in short. That everything else is barroom talk worth little or nothing.

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Woe betide the poor Count. Boredom indeed! After what happened at the Maradona, with this mocking 2-2, caught by the hair by the Genoans with six minutes to go, Napoli plunged back into a white-hot championship final. A final with a thrill to be rewritten because Inter, victorious from the downpour in Turin (0-2), are back on their heels, just one point behind the leaders: Napoli 78, Inter 77. With Inzaghi's breath on Conte's neck, who now, with two days to go, will have little time to get bored. Starting with the next game with Parma and then the last at home with Cagliari. "We've lost a bonus," Conte said with a thread in his voice and a lot of anger in his eyes. "We built a lot, but we were not precise in the details"-.

The devil is in the details, admonishes an old English proverb. After so many calculations, so many strategies, into the fight for the Scudetto slipped a Mexican, Joao Vasquez, who with a dunk almost in extremis nailed Napoli to a draw that put everything into question.

That's football, baby! , one has to say thinking that Napoli had taken an early lead with a powerful goal from Lukaku, skilful in exploiting a precise assist from McTominay. And not even Genoa's momentary equaliser (Meret's own goal on Ahnor's header) had destabilised the Parthenopeans, who in the 64th minute had taken the lead again with a splendid move by Raspadori, again well served by MacTominay.

Here, Napoli could have ended the evening with a third goal, which instead, through haste or inaccuracy, did not come. And football, we know, is always a bit of a bastard with those who miss the fleeting moment. And so Vasquez's equalizer punished Napoli, restoring momentum to Inter who, two hours earlier, had disposed of a less than irresistible Torino with some ease. A Torino soaked by a torrential downpour. A water bomb that, at the end of the first half, forced referee La Penna to interrupt play for about six minutes. Already in the lead thanks to a venomous right-footed shot from Poland's Zalewski, Inter liquidated the Granatas in the second half with a penalty from Asllani. Three points without too much trouble and with a calculated turn over reshuffled in the second half with the insertions of Barella, Calhanoglu and Acerbi.

A nimble success, weather aside, that allowed the Nerazzurri to temporarily hang on to the top spot before the Parthenopeans' Maradona draw.

Final head

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And now? Now with two days to go, anything can still happen. Certainly Napoli, winning all the time, would have destiny in their hands. But Inter, who will face first Lazio at the Olimpico and then Como at the San Siro, have regained charge and morale in a final, including the Champions League one, really at the last breath.

Predictions? You can only be wrong, certainly for Conte this is a heavy blow. For Inzaghi, also in view of the challenge with Paris St Germain, it is heavenly music. The risk is for Inter to go off the rails. The dream of hitting a thrilling double.

Less exciting instead was the fight for fourth place. This was seen for Juventus who, like Milan, love risk. The unexpected is its rule. It is true that the Diavolo lately somehow manages to come out on top, but only after having seen the precipice. Like at the San Siro with Bologna, who took the lead first thanks to Orsolini. Milan reacted, but never played at one hundred per cent. Juventus, on the other hand, threw away two points against Lazio, getting caught in the 96th minute, when they felt they were in the Champions League urn. With Kolo Muani's one-nil, and an unresponsive Lazio, everything seemed to point towards a Bianconeri success that would have secured fourth place. Instead, a silly reaction foul by Kalulu gave breath to an unconvincing Lazio, a distant relative of the team that was scoring and entertaining in the first leg.

On the expulsion, there is something to be said: Fabio Capello is right when he says that, by now, it is enough to throw oneself on the ground and hope that Var certifies the red card. Episodes that change a match. And so Juve in ten, and increasingly in trouble, eventually suffered another comeback.

Evening Atalanta v Roma

Now everything opens up again. And everything will depend on tonight's match between Atalanta and Roma. With another exploit by the Giallorossi, Roma would rise to fourth place. Then Juventus will have to face Udinese and Venezia, nothing impossible, although Venezia (today's match against Fiorentina) may be in the middle of the fight for salvation. Roma, unlike the Bianconeri, are instead masters of their own destiny. With Ranieri increasingly the guarantor of this team (unbeaten for 19 matches), Gasperini must also be very careful.

Returning to Madama, it is still strange: previously it was said that Thiago Motta, too philosophical and not very pragmatic, was to blame. However, with Tudor, all these results have not been seen. More or less the (slow) trend is the same. So what? So it means that several players are not suited to this project. In short, it is also up to the club, and Mr Giuntoli, to figure it out. Coaches, very often, are also a convenient scapegoat.

Towards the Italian Cup final

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We were talking about Milan, always indecipherable despite coming from four consecutive victories. Now Gimenez is back in goal after a dark period. Before that, Jovic was back in the light. It goes up and down. Conceicao has become an upward specialist, even in the index of trust in him from the club and the fans. What can we say? Something is moving. There is more conviction, the three-man defence is less shaky, but there are so many variables and so many uncertainties. Now it is clear that Bologna at the San Siro will not be the one at the Olimpico. A Coppa Italia final is something else. Vincenzo Italiano will charge his players as if the challenge of a lifetime were at stake. And the Milanese? Will they be ready? Or will they go for frogs as they sometimes do? With equal determination, Milan individually have something more. Certainly compared to the San Siro we will see a different game. Of course, if Conceicao also wins the Coppa Italia, sending him off will become even more difficult.

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