The celebrations at San Siro were of relief that runaways Napoli did not enter the World Cup break with a double-digit leadIt was the 91st minute at San Siro when Milan scored the goal that might have rescued the Serie A title race. Technically the Fiorentina defender Nicola Milenkovic scored it for them – deflecting Aster Vranckx’s cross into his own net – but few were dwelling on the fine details as Zombie Nation’s Kernkraft 400, a German dance track older than some players on the pitch, blared out across the public address.A crowd of 73,000 danced and sighed with relief. Milenkovic’s own goal secured a 2-1 win and kept Milan ‘only’ eight points behind Napoli at the top. The...
Internazionale’s rollercoaster 4-3 win against Fiorentina sums up a side on a good recent run despite their defensive woesSimone Inzaghi never did fear the madhouse. His predecessor at Internazionale, Antonio Conte, made it a mission to end the club’s reputation as “Pazza Inter” – Crazy Inter – insisting they should instead be “regular and strong”. That goal was achieved as they marched to the 2020-21 Scudetto. Once they claimed top spot, they never let go: 11 clean sheets in the final 21 games ensuring their rivals never got a sniff.It was a different story last season, when Inzaghi’s Inter led in December only to stumble through the winter and finish second. One journalist asked whether the pazza days had returned....
Which side in Italy can boast a deeper range of options at so many positions? Bologna found this out to their cost“Every match is a voyage into the unknown,” insisted Luciano Spalletti on Saturday, yet his team keep arriving at the same destination. Sometimes the path is bumpy, and sometimes it is smooth, but at the end Napoli always find the three points they were looking for.This weekend brought a 10th consecutive win, extending a sequence that has carried them to first place in Serie A and their Champions League group. On paper, a home game against Bologna – who began the weekend one spot above the relegation zone – looked straightforward. In practice, it was the windiest road yet....
New manager at Monza enjoyed an astonishing senior bow in the dugout as things went from bad to worse for AllegriNot even Raffaele Palladino’s own boss could provide insight into his management style at the start of the weekend. “I don’t know him well enough to give comparisons,” said Monza’s president, Silvio Berlusconi. “He has worked for a while in our youth system. With our tireless support and technical advice, just like we offered to coaches at Milan for 30 years, I believe he will do well.”The sentiment was echoed by Berlusconi’s right-hand man, Adriano Galliani, who evoked Arrigo Sacchi as evidence of how well things could go when they make “courageous choices” together. Even this, though, was comparing apples...
Portuguese forward left Internazionale in his wake with a fine performance that shows why the club fought to retain himRafael Leão signed off, as he so often does, with his favourite emoji, the little man riding a surfboard. He had given no interviews after Milan’s game against Internazionale so we had to make do with a two-word social media post, less a comment than a vibe: “Derby Waves.”Perhaps that was a perfect synopsis of a game of relentless, roiling drama. An evening when two halves of a city took turns to ride the crests and then tumble back beneath the water, swept along by irresistible tides that would not allow anyone to stop for breath. Continue reading...