Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Another guest article now and Filippo Festuccia returns with an extensive review of all the action in Week 30 of Serie A. You can follow Filippo on Twitter here @FilippoFest. Over to you Filippo
Only eight games left, and Serie A is still open, after a hard-fought weekend with an average of over two goals per match and a search for answers that probably will only be found at the very end.
Napoli’s title ambitions are back in full swing, as the Donkeys swiftly defeated Genoa 3-1. Higuain scored two: his personal chase for the Golden Shoe will keep him busy, considering he has the same points as his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo but two less than Benfica striker Jonas. Napoli’s run relies almost entirely on the Argentinian and on his excellent partnership with Lorenzo Insigne, but they need to keep winning and hope that Juventus drops some points. The latter is probably not happening: after being eliminated from the Champions League in the cruelest of ways by Bayern Munchen, Juventus smashed Torino in the Turin derby. The 4-1 victory over the Bulls was one of the most convicing performances by Juventus this year, thanks to an extraordinary contribution by Paul Pogba. Belotti‘s goal (a penalty) ended Buffon’s undefeated streak: 973 minutes without taking a goal, an all-time Serie A record. The two title contenders will face a very similar calendar in the last eight weeks, with some tough matchups that will decide the race for the title.
The six teams fighting for European qualification spots all drew, in an indecisive day that proved the road to greatness is long and full of stumbles. Roma and Inter played off each other’s weaknesses, with Inter being cynical and aggressive and Roma showing some great link-ups but being incredibly wasteful. Inter keeps lacking quality, while Roma does not have the toughness of a top team. Next season will be the true test, as Roma will start with Spalletti (this year they held on to Garcia a little too long) and Inter will have the chance to find a playmaker. Milan and Lazio had a similar game, with the Devils playing the role of the wasteful attacker and Lazio striking quickly at the beginning. A loss for Milan would have put their Europa League spot in serious jeopardy, but as of now they have 4 points on Sassuolo and 7 on Lazio. Fiorentina drew Frosinone and hasn’t won a game in the last four, while Sassuolo – who in the words of its owner will be competing for a Europa League spot next season – drew Udinese and can be extremely happy of how the season went. The key for next year will be either keeping Berardi or selling him for a better price than the “courtesy option” held by Juventus.
Carpi sits clear of the relegation zone for the first time in months, as they beat Verona (a side now almost sure of their Serie B destiny). Carpi now has made 9 points in the last five games, the best record of the entire second half of the table, while direct contenders Palermo and Frosinone keep struggling. Frosinone, as we said, held Fiorentina to a goalless draw with some physical play and a lot of fouls, while Palermo did the same with Empoli. In order to stay afloat, they’ll need to score some goals eventually, and they’re not great at it. It definitely looks like a three-way race for one Serie A spot anyway, but there’s a number of teams sitting a handful of points above Carpi and Palermo that need to keep churning out good results in order to avoid last-minute heart attacks. For Udinese (a mere three points above relegation), Sampdoria (four), Torino and Atalanta (both at five) the struggle is not over yet.
Thanks Filippo, make sure to keep an eye out for his review for Week 31 after the International Break and subsequent articles between now and the end of the season.
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