In the first of a new series summing up the highs and lows of each round of games, Giancarlo Rinaldi picks out the good, the bad and the ugly from Serie A.
If anyone still thinks Italian football is boring and predictable they were given another object lesson in how wrong they are over three days of thrilling action. The runaway league leaders were thrashed, one of the giants of the game was humbled in its own stadium and Max Allegri got a 1-0 victory (OK, some things are not so surprising). But who were the heroes and zeroes from another compelling round of fixtures?
Winners
He had hidden his form for much of this season but Rafa Leao clearly kept something up his sleeve for the trip to the Stadio Maradona to take on red-hot Napoli. Although Luciano Spalletti’s side was without its Nigerian talisman Victor Osimhen, nobody could have predicted the havoc the Rossoneri would wreak with their Portuguese star at the heart of much of it. In truth, this was a masterclass from Stefano Pioli and his entire team, with Sandro Tonali and Ismael Bennacer overrunning the usually brilliant Stanislav Lobotka and Davide Calabria keeping Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in check. It won’t affect the outcome of the Scudetto race but it was a roar of pride from the Rossoneri ahead of the two sides meeting in the Champions League and their flying front man reminded everyone why he was many people’s MVP last year.
It is easy to forget how much Bologna were struggling when Thiago Motta took over the reins but he deserves a heap of credit for delivering comfortable survival and a place in the top half of the table. A 3-0 hammering of early Serie A pace setters Udinese to overtake them in the table showed just how far the Rossoblu have come under his guidance. The Brazilian-born Italian international has taken his time to find his managerial feet after less-than-spectacular spells with Genoa and Spezia but appears to have discovered a winning formula at the Stadio Dall’Ara. Little wonder some of his players – like impressive Scotsman Lewis Ferguson – are starting to catch the eye of many other sides.
What is the best way to respond to a blink-and-you-missed-it appearance as a substitute which ends in a red card moments later? Having lasted less than a minute against Roma, Moise Kean did his best to make it up to Juventus supporters by delivering the only goal of the game in a victory against struggling Verona. He still has a lot of work to do to get back into their good books but it was a step in the right direction. Could it convince Roberto Mancini to give him another shot with La Nazionale? Probably not, but if he keeps scoring goals and keeps a lid on his temper he could yet become an important player for club and country.
LOSERS
The writing appears to be on the wall for Simone Inzaghi at Inter with anyone and everyone being lined up to replace him at the Nerazzurri helm. Defeat against Italy’s most in-form side, Fiorentina, was not his team’s worst performance but it confirmed a terrible list of underachievement with a squad that should be much further up the Serie A table than it is. Yes, he was not helped by a string of blunders at the weekend – most notably from Romelu Lukaku – but that can’t be an excuse for his failure to get the best out of a group of players which is clearly capable of more. Only his reputation as a cup specialist – and delivering an improbable Champions League triumph – can surely save him now.
No week goes by, it seems, without some section of supporters putting themselves in a bad light. This week it was a slice of Roma’s Curva Sud with chants directed toward Samp boss Dejan Stankovic during their side’s stroll to a win over Sampdoria. His Lazio past was never likely to endear him to the Giallorossi faithful but hats off to Jose Mourinho for protecting his former player. However, it was a shame that it took away from an impressive win and a welcome return to top-level displays for Georginio Wijnaldum who has had such trouble with injury. Not to be outdone, a section of Lazio fans were busy proving that they could be just as idiotic on the road as they are at home with discriminatory jibes of their own during an impressive win at Monza. If your first reaction is to point to other clubs and incidents rather than admitting there is an issue then you are probably part of the problem as well.
Finally, in the battle of two of the worst form sides of Serie A it was Lecce who took the unwanted honour of turning a run of four defeats into five at the Stadio Castellani. Empoli went into the game on an equally miserable run but a Ciccio Caputo penalty thumped up the middle gave them a deserved victory. The only consolation for Marco Baroni’s men is that the relegation zone remains quite distant but even their impressively faithful fans are starting to lose patience with a side that seems to have forgotten how to pick up points.
@ginkers