11 minute read
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY
‘OLIVER GIROUD PUT THE CAT AMONGST THE PIGEONS'
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Maradona on matchday 14, prior to their meltdown in the lead up to Christmas. In the meantime, champions Inter, who got o to a rocky start by dropping points in four of their opening nine games, cemented their title credentials with a 3-2 win at home over the Partenopei on November 21. That victory propelled the Nerazzurri into an eight-match winning run and the top of the division, before a goalless draw in Bergamo halted the train. The coming months are crucial for this Scudetto love triangle. Milan are out of European competition already, which may help them in the title race. Inter face two ties with Liverpool in the Champions League last 16, the first coming just four days after their trip to Naples. The Azzurri, meanwhile, head to Barcelona in the Europa League knockout rounds straight after that top-of-the-table clash. In the Coppa Italia, the two Milanese clubs will meet again in the semi-finals. That potentially heated twolegged a air between title rivals during the home stretch would of course be beneficial to Napoli, who exited the cup in the round of 16. On the domestic front, things will really begin to heat up from March onwards, when Juventus welcome Inter to the Allianz Stadium for the Derby d’Italia and Milan travel to the Maradona. Inter will also host Fiorentina and Roma, while Milan will need to overcome Atalanta at home before a tough test on the final day of the season with continual thorn in their side, Sassuolo. Napoli must travel to Bergamo to play Atalanta, before hosting Fiorentina and contesting the Derby della Sud with Roma in back-to-back games at the start of April. The
ABOVE: Are Milan too dependant on Olivier Giroud for goals?
BOTTOM LEFT: Inter hope Simone Inzaghi can lead them to back-to-back titles
BOTTOM RIGHT: Inter's Edin Dzeko celebrates after scoring
RIGHT: Ivan Perisic is keeping up his production
Partenopei travel to Spezia on the last day of the season, while the defending champions have a home fixture against relegation-threatened Sampdoria. Napoli have played plenty of expansive and expressive football this season, but their main weakness is breaking down the more pragmatic teams who set up to sit deep and physically ru e their feathers. Striker Victor Osimhen will hope to put his injury and Covid woes behind him and finally get a good run in the team. The Nigeria international lifts the Partenopei into another dimension when he is on the pitch, with his pace unsettling opposition defenders and opening space for his supporting cast to exploit. Milan, on the other hand, have surprised many by lasting this long into the season fighting it out at the top of the table. Their detractors claim they are too reliant on the experience of veteran forwards Giroud and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to stay the distance. The pair may have a combined age of 75 but continue to be the Rossoneri’s main source of goals. Inter, meanwhile, are more physically robust than the other two sides. Inzaghi’s men are happy to grind out results rather than receiving plaudits for playing beautiful football, although the style of play has arguably improved since last season’s title triumph. Driven on by their midfield dynamo Nicolo Barella, the Nerazzurri have the deepest squad and are favourites to retain the Scudetto. Of course, anything can happen in football and there are likely to be plenty more twists and turns in the title race as we head into the business end of the season.
ABOVE: Stefano Pioli is gunning for his first major honour as a coach
BELOW: Krzysztof Piatek is one of the players tasked with replacing Vlahovic
BOTTOM RIGHT: Dusan Vlahovic moved to Juventus from Fiorentina in January
ITALY’S WINTER WINDOW
With only Premier League clubs spending more than Serie A in the January transfer window, Ciro Di Brita takes a look at where most of the money went
Juventus were probably the biggest winners of the January transfer window, receiving large fees for two players from Tottenham Hotspur - whose new director of football is former Bianconeri chief football o cer, Fabio Paratici. The London club paid €19m for Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, with another €6m in potential add-ons, while also paying €5m up front to loan Dejan Kulusevski, with an obligation to buy for a further €35m. The Old Lady then went out and snapped up the services of Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina in a deal worth a possible €80m. The Serbian striker’s contract at the Stadio Artemio Franchi would have run out next summer, meaning that the Viola probably did very well negotiating that fee for a player heading for the exit in a year’s time. The Turin giants also signed Switzerland international Denis Zakaria from Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monchengladbach. Inter brought in Robin Gosens from Atalanta to add to the many wing-backs already at the club, while Felipe Caicedo reunites with his former Lazio coach, Simone Inzaghi. Milan’s only piece of business was bringing in young Serbian striker Marko Lazetic from Red Star Belgrade, while Napoli also only made one signing with the arrival of Axel Tuanzebe on loan from Manchester United. Tricky winger Jeremie Boga moved from Sassuolo to Atalanta for €18m, while Roma brought in Sergio Oliveira from Porto and Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Arsenal, bringing their total of English players up to three after Chris Smalling and Tammy Abraham. Fiorentina replaced Vlahovic with Krzysztof Piatek, Arthur Cabral, and Jonathan Ikone, hoping those three can match the goal threat they lost by selling the Serb. Sampdoria brought in several players on loan to bolster their squad in their battle to avoid the drop. Stefano Sensi arrived from Inter, along with Tomas Rincon from Torino and Andrea Conti from Milan.
SLOW AND STEADY
THE GOOD
The triple loss of coach Antonio Conte, leading scorer Romelu Lukaku and influential wing-back Achraf Hakimi led many to write o Inter's title chances before the 20212022 season even started. The exodus of the influential coach, and the unexpected departure of the talismanic Lukaku to Chelsea in particular, prompted a bout of deep soul-searching concerning the club's future direction and objectives. Yet the Nerazzurri continue to prove the sceptics wrong, as they remain in firm contention to win a second successive championship and claimed the first silverware of the campaign. The Supercoppa Italiana victory over Juventus was a signal of intent, the often-denigrated Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez scoring a late winner to prompt joyous celebrations on a dramatic night at San Siro.The appointment of Simone Inzaghi to replace Conte was not met with overwhelming approval by the Inter tifosi. Nevertheless, the 45-year-old steadied the ship and integrated new signings Edin Dzeko, Hakan Calhanoglu and Denzel Dumfries seamlessly into a squad already stocked full of internationals. In February, Inter overcame Roma in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia, Sanchez netting a stunning long distance rocket as Inzaghi's side rebounded from a crushing 2-1 derby defeat against city rivals Milan. The outcome of the Derby della Madonnina was a major setback, the rejuvenated Ivan Perisic side-footing home unmarked in the box before Olivier Giroud claimed a late double as Milan surged back to secure the local bragging rights. Nevertheless, it may not have a significant impact on a riveting Scudetto race in which Inter, Milan and Napoli have all been a lap ahead of the chasing pack. A resurgent Juventus, bolstered by the expensive addition of brilliant young striker Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina, cannot be entirely discounted. However, Inter look fully equipped for the long haul, regardless of the constant sniping from the legion of detractors who play down their Serie A chances.
STORY LINES
Atalanta’s Jeremie Boga is the first outfield player to have not received a single yellow card in his first 100 Serie A appearances in the three points for a win era (since 1994/1995). Since his Serie A debut in 2015/16, Edin Dzeko has scored five league goals against Napoli: only Ciro Immobile (six) has had more against them in the process. In their Serie A clash against Udinese, Verona scored at least four goals in the league for the fifth time this season. They had never done it more than three times in a single season before.
The transition from top-level player to elite coach is often littered with insurmountable obstacles. Former Milan legend Andriy Shevchenko is a glaring case in point. As a player he won the Scudetto and Champions League in seven successful seasons with the Rossoneri from 1999 to 2006, frequently scoring angle-defying goals that cemented his place among the great pantheon of forwards to grace San Siro. His return to Italian football was not as memorable. The Ukrainian failed to guide relegationthreatened Genoa to a single Serie A victory and was unceremoniously sacked after just 11 games in charge. Miami-based investment company 777 Partners, who took control of the Grifone from deeply unpopular long-term owner Enrico Preziosi in September last year, made the imaginative appointment in the hope Shevchenko could inspire a squad sorely lacking in belief. It was a major gamble that backfired spectacularly. The 45-year-old had served as Ukraine head coach for five years, guiding his country to the quarter-finals of Euro 2020. Yet he cut a forlorn, helpless figure on the sidelines as Genoa consistently underperformed during his short coaching reign. Shevchenko, assisted by former Milan teammate Mauro Tassotti, only recorded one win in the Coppa Italia against fellow strugglers Salernitana, as Genoa languished in the bottom three throughout his brief tenure. The low point came in a demoralising 3-1 Derby della Lanterna defeat. City rivals Sampdoria comprehensively outplayed the Rossoblu in a one-sided contest, which signalled the beginning of the end for Shevchenko. His fate was sealed in a familiar venue, as Milan eliminated Genoa from the Coppa Italia in extra-time at San Siro. Banners of support from the home fans were of little consolation for a former star player thrown in at the deep end, in the unforgiving world of Italian football.
FAR LEFT (OPPOSITE PAGE): Simone Inzaghi has a great chance to win the Scudetto in his first season at Inter
RIGHT (OPPOSITE PAGE): Inzaghi celebrates with his players
ABOVE: Genoa's ex-head coach Andriy Shevchenko (L) poses with Josh Wander, founder of 777 Partners fund, during his presentation
RIGHT: Sampdoria defeats Genoa
FAR RIGHT: Andriy Shevchenko’s return to Italian football was short-lived
Robin Gosens has revealed that he rejected a big-money transfer to Newcastle in January, despite claiming that he "could probably have secured a few more generations of my family with this money." Gosens enjoyed a stellar 2020-21 campaign with Atalanta that earned him a spot in Germany's Euro 2020 squad, and he also impressed during that tournament despite his country's disappointing last-16 exit. Roma boss Jose Mourinho threatened to walk away from his pre-match press conference as he snapped at reporters. The Special One took exception when he was asked about the squad harmony within the Giallorossi dressing room. It has been claimed that Mourinho launched into an X-rated rant at his players following their 2-0 Coppa Italia quarter-final defeat to Inter Milan.
