It’s very hot, but Serie A doesn’t look at these things. We start again with the usual problems, in a sea of debts and downward TV rights, which is a tough nut to crack. But the first day got off to a flying start, and all the big favorites at the starting line won, apart from the Romans.
Lazio quarreled a bit with luck, because it happens every now and then and you have to put it into account in a 29-day journey: nine minutes from the end of the match, Immobile fired the two-to-zero blow without fail and instead Falcone he sacrificed himself and then the crossbar took care of it. In those 9 minutes that remained Lecce made two actions and two goals. It looks so much like one of those sentences from Tonino Carino or Gianni Vasino in the heroic times of the 90th minute, in football the episodes count and the matches last 90 minutes, which would now be 100, but back then it was like that. Lazio was without its two strongest signings, Rovella, the director of the future national team, was missing, and Isaksen was not in the starting lineup. All in all it is not such a dramatic defeat.
Roma’s draw is a little more worrying, if only because Mourinho’s men have once again shown that they are too hard to build up the game. The usual Special One team, great grit, heart, and low center of gravity waiting for the others to leave open spaces behind. However, the most important thing in the end is that there is a Rome with Dybala and a Rome without, and the one with Salernitana was without. And it showed.
All the others won, and won well. On the podium, with the necessary precautions, three climbed: Inter, Milan and Atalanta. Because in addition to the resounding victories, we must also consider the opponents who were facing us. The first day said, for example, that there are some teams in really bad shape and at a high risk of relegation – Empoli, Frosinone and Genoa – unless the last few days of the transfer market revolutionize their physiognomy. Inter, Milan and Atalanta had the most serious commitments.
In first place I would put Inter, already solid in defense – and Pavard has yet to arrive -, very compact in midfield and built in attack to make the most of their strongest man, Lautaro Martinez. The surprise was Thuram, a physical center forward, different from Lukaku, technically good and very useful in dialogue with Toro, the protagonist of the match precisely because he tried well and insistently. If Big Rom certainly has a few more goals in his bag, the addition of the Frenchman helps the maneuver a lot, even in considerable terms. Let’s say it will be hard for the Gazzetta, but maybe they can finally come out of mourning, after having given us a month and a half of unforgettable laughs, with the anti-racism hero, with a statuesque and perfect physique, who suddenly became “Lukaku the businessman”, the traitor serial (very true, but was it okay when he cheated for the nerazzurri?), an ungrateful man, a center forward of weight, too fat, who breaks easily, and above all very incorrect, so much so that Inter will now sue him and Juve, who between nobody wants the other in Turin, only Allegri, who as everyone knows is twenty years behind and is destroying the bianconeri. La Gazzetta become like Tuttosport Hurrà Inter has a certain effect. But it was a hot summer.
With the fresh it will be better for everyone. For Milan and Atalanta, on the other hand, it’s perfectly fine. They made miraculous money (Hojlund at 80 million doesn’t believe it), and they bought better. If Atalanta is the usual Atalanta del Gasp, with its bets to play and its unbridled race, Milan seen in Bologna is certainly above expectations. It’s true that he risked something, but it appeared to be a much more logical team than last year’s, with a midfield already like this, waiting for Bennacer, to fight and have power.
Napoli and Juventus also won hands down. But in this case we would prefer to leave the judgment open, because Garcia’s Azzurri were up against a really fragile opponent and it would be appropriate to see them again with another sparring partner, while the Bianconeri, who had greatly improved in the game in terms of intensity and ideas, against Udinese they were helped too much by luck, and for this reason we don’t feel like marrying the exaggerated enthusiasm with which his victory was welcomed: a huge mistake by the hosts in the first goal, a penalty-like ingenuity in the second, and a colossal duck of the goalkeeper in the third. It’s not every day that you get a paved road like this. But the chroniclers of the result, another category of wit and cabaret, pay no attention to these subtleties.
Undoubtedly Fiorentina’s victory was also beautiful, four goals away from home and absolute domination, but even in this case the inconsistency of the opponent should be underlined, deployed only to defend himself in his own area and, after having conceded a goal, totally incapable of develop the slightest proactive idea. Empoli is also in bad shape with Genoa, they have the game but they don’t have the interpreters. Turin doesn’t bite, ticked as it is. Cagliari, on the other hand, is Ranieri’s usual team, the fixer who fixes everything, solid and concrete, 442 who hardly anyone uses anymore, and the guarantee of a calm championship in which he could get a lot of satisfaction. Finally, we hope to keep Berardi at Sassuolo. Otherwise without Frattesi and his captain, badly replaced up to now, I see it as quite difficult. Fortunately, we are only at the beginning. Full speed ahead and have fun.