Napoli‘s 4-1 trashing of Liverpool was the only good news for Italian football over the last few days as Juventus, Inter and Milan failed to produce performances up to the Champions League standards, writes Lorenzo Bettoni.
What a night it was at the Stadio Maradona. The Partenopei trashed the 2021-22 Champions League runners-up Liverpool 4-1 in the opening clash of the Champions League Group A. It didn’t come as a surprise, at least not entirely. Napoli were in good shape after a 2-1 win away at Lazio the previous weekend, while the Reds travelled to Italy on the back of a 0-0 draw in the Merseyside derby with Everton.
Napoli are unbeaten in five Serie A games, while Liverpool lost one of their opening six Premier League fixtures. What surprised the most at Stadio Maradona last night was the gap in terms of intensity, desire, and physical shape between Napoli and Liverpool. A gap that was perfectly mirrored by the result.
However, unfortunately for Italian football, Spalletti’s men’s feat was the only positive news for Serie A because Juventus, Inter and Milan failed to be up to the task in the opening two days of the competition.
Juventus and Inter faced two Champions League favourites, just like Liverpool: PSG and Bayern Munich. The approach in their games was similar and so was the gap between the Serie A giants and their opponents.
PSG and Bayern scored their second goals in a similar fashion: quick and short passes on the edge of the box to open space for their stars to score. Juventus and Inter’s defenders looked way too static and almost unable to even predict what their opponents would do.
They are not accustomed to this kind of pace in Serie A, they are not accustomed to facing these technically gifted players in Italy, but ultimately Juventus and Inter paid a high price for their approach. Juventus sat back waiting for PSG, which is understandable because you don’t want to leave too much space for Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Leo Messi.
However, they only produced one chance in the first half in Paris and looked confused in the opening 30-40 minutes. PSG slowed down a bit in the second half. Perhaps they were a bit presumptuous, helping Juventus get back into the game.
Inter played their cards with Bayern but didn’t seem to have a clear plan. Nicolò Barella was left on the bench for 90 minutes, Edin Dzeko replaced Romelu Lukaku, but the Nerazzurri were never really dangerous against the Bavarians.
Serie A champions Milan had travelled to Salzburg with confidence and the belief that they had further raised their level compared to last season when they finished last in a group with Atletico, Liverpool and Porto. On Tuesday, it ended 1-1 on Austrian soil.
The reality is that Milan’s high Serie A intensity is easily matched in European games and that the Rossoneri need even more organization and unpredictability up front to be able to go beyond the group stage.
They know it’s not going to be an easy task for them, and Italian football as a whole can’t celebrate too much today because aside from Napoli, all the others obtained disappointing results and, above all, offered poor performances to compete with Europe’s elite clubs.
Today three more Serie A teams are involved in European competitions: Lazio at home with Feyenoord, Roma away at Ludogorets and Fiorentina at the Franchi against Riga in the Conference League. At least, on paper, Serie A teams start as favourites today.
@lorebetto