We review the events in the championship of Italy.
The next round of Serie A turned out to be specific: both central matches ended in a goalless draw. A somewhat forgotten format of " I got the impression that Milan and Juventus could have played at least ten hours in a row - and still zeros would have shone on the scoreboard.
The match in Rome between Lazio and Atalanta was a little livelier, and even there the overly defensive scenario is explained by the losses of the Gasperini team, but this time it was necessary to look for entertainment in other cities. Guaranteed Option - Empoli. Andreazzoli's team even lose spectacularly.
Tournament changes stuck halfway through. Inter, having managed to put the squeeze on Venice, broke away from competitors by four points (plus a match in reserve). Napoli caught up with Milan, but Juventus did not manage to get around Atalanta, although if they won, they would take a place in the Champions League zone. However, the whole struggle is still ahead, although at the beginning of the year the leading four kept their distance from competitors.
At the bottom of the table we note the results of Spezia, who again beat the team from Genoa and managed to break away from the relegation zone by as much as eight points. By the way, the "
Classic of old Italy The best remedy for insomnia on Sunday evening was Milan's game with Juventus. An unconditional, pure zero, as if emerging from somewhere in the early 2000s, when Italian football was criticized for being too defensive.. Can this result be called mutually satisfactory Rather, Inter rejoiced, which broke away from fellow countrymen.
Milan as a whole looked more convincing. He had a territorial advantage and at least four shots on target - Juventus didn’t have a single hit at all. Moments in the first half can even be called dangerous - we are talking about the sighting of Calabria. However, even the " Milan xG - 0.71. This is more than 0.35 for Juventus, but still not enough to talk about a lost victory.
One of the main events of the match was the injury of Ibrahimovic, who left the field in the 28th minute.. Zlatan's Achilles tendon fails again. If the level of his game almost does not worsen over the years, then injuries, alas, bother regularly. It’s not a fact, of course, that with Ibra, the Milanese could finish the opponent, but Giroud, who replaced him, did not enter the game, allowing too much technical marriage.
Juventus probably got their way. It was not noticeable that the Bianconeri wanted anything more than a goalless draw in this match - and this despite the tournament situation, when a victory would put the team in fourth place. When Allegri wasn't on the bench, Juve could create a frenzy like a 4-3 victory over Roma. When Max returned, we again saw the most cautious team, where even Dybala was remembered for tackles in his own half of the field.
Half of Atalanta Something similar was observed the day before at the Olimpico, where Lazio never broke through Atalanta. Another match far from the current image of Serie A as the most spectacular of the top championships. Unless there were still a little more chances, especially in the second half, when the Laziali even hit the post.
This content of football, however, is explained by the colossal losses of Atalanta. For various reasons, almost the entire " Gasperini had to release half of the reserve team, where there was a place for Miranchuk and Piccoli, and completely unfired youths remained in the reserve. It is not surprising that the team from Bergamo focused on defense - a more or less familiar combination of players came out there.
Lazio did not achieve his goal, and this is a stone in the garden of Maurizio Sarri. The Romans are definitely good against outsiders, but in head-on matches they regularly turn out to be losers - a draw in this case is not much different from a defeat.. Immobile was closed, rare chances could not be realized, and even the final assault did not work. There are seven points to Atalanta, and Bergamasca has a game less. Looks like Laziali's Champions League omission is a done deal.
Inter played to the end is who is seeking a result, despite all the difficulties, it's a new team of Simone Inzaghi. Inter, giving the course of the match snatched victory in the FA Cup match against Empoli and now cranked out the same trick against Venice, which led in the score during the first half. Again, " It turned out even trite: Dumfries hung, Dzeko hit his head. Prior to that, Barella scored in the first half.. A surprising feature of the Inter - in this composition can score anyone.
It troubling that Inter did not create too many chances at the gates of the guests. It seems that heavy victory in the Super Bowl took away too much force, and each subsequent match, " On the other hand, standings glove called great: a nice lead over the competition, plus a game in hand - claims the second "
Fun Corner. Victory Roma and Napoli - normal Italian matches with lots of goals and saturated developments.
The Neapolitans rolled out the main outsider of the season, Salernitana. Some reservations in this match was the unexpected goal Bonazzoli when the visitors leveled the score during the first half, but the 11-meter just before the break conceived crucial, but two quick goals in the second half and remove from the " Napoli is recovering in the literal and figurative sense: a month ago, the squad looked like what is happening now with Atalanta, but now it is close to optimal.
The Romans also scored four goals, but there the format was somewhat different. In the first half, Roma famously tore apart the defense of Empoli. Fairy Abraham, Oliveira did a great job (so far - the best winter acquisition of Serie A clubs), they were successfully helped by Mkhitaryan and Zaniolo. After the break, however, the “Giallorossi” stopped playing, which pretty much strained their fans, who remember the failure with Juventus. However, Empoli managed to win back only two goals, avoiding a major defeat..
As under Shevchenko Fiorentina lost points, which had to play without Dusan Vlahovic. Piontec is not yet ready to replace him, hence the too passive game of the Florentines in attack. Cagliari, who is actively digging from the departure zone, looked at least no worse and fully deserved his draw. Of course, we will make a reservation about the penalty, which Biraghi did not convert at the very beginning of the match, but fate returned the favor, and Joao Pedro did not score from the “point”.
Genoa played the first match under the leadership of Alexander Blessin, a German coach who, in fact, replaced Andriy Shevchenko (Abdoulaye Konko, in which 0:6 from Fiorentina happened, was only a temporary worker). So far - exactly the same result as with the Ukrainian coach in the first round: a goalless draw with Udinese, which gives the Genoese nothing in terms of tournament.
Torino, the whole match chased Sassuolo, hiking three times in the framework, but luck was on the side of the guests who were equalized in the ending.
An important victory won a spice, and Viktor Kovalenko played at the base, replacing a disqualified Maggiore there (though, the only ball was scored after it was replaced). Finally, Verona defeated Bologna on Friday thanks to the decisive goal of Nikola Kalinic.
Tour team Radunovic (Cagliari) - Bremer (Torino), Palomino (Atalanta), Chiellini (Juventus) - Calabria (Milan), Barella (Inter), Mandragora (Torino), Lazovic (Verona) - Oliveira (Roma), Abraham (Roma).