Giacomo Raspadori is the hero you don’t expect and takes Napoli a few centimeters from the finish line.
– After a burning and in some ways unexpected disappointment, Napoli goes to Turin to win a consolation prize that is worth a few coins less than the official Scudetto. Beyond the value that this victory may have in the standings (by now it’s just a question of understanding when), the importance of this success lies mainly in the emotional value it may have for Spalletti’s team, which immediately erases the bitterness of the double challenge against Milan with a prestigious success on the field of what now has the appearance of a great decline. On balance, despite not even knowing exactly for which goal, these points still mattered more for Juventus, but in the end Napoli takes them;
– In truth, contrary to a highly agitated ending from the point of view of events, Juventus-Napoli is anything but an exciting match and, throughout the first hour of the game, there is probably only the tactical crossing between the two coaches that is interesting. The titanic clash between Anguissa e Rabiot leads the two giants to cancel each other out, Kvarastkhelia is constantly doubled by a very applied Soule and the location of Miretti it is mainly used for screening Lobotka. The first half comes out which it would be elegant to define as a “chess game”, but it is perhaps more honest to frame it as a not too hot soup. After a balanced first half hour, the expected score emerges but, despite inevitably playing the match, Napoli imposes a pace that seems to help Juventus, for reasons of habit;
– Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Allegri breaks the balance with a change of system that shakes something in the tepid confrontation between the two teams. With Di Maria and Chiesa, the Livorno player switches to an almost unprecedented 4-2-3-1 (only in the possession phase, because without the ball it’s 4-4-1-1 from the first minute), which is soon corrected into a 4-3-3 for a few too many crushes. Without triggering a breathtaking reaction, it is the move that opens the game a bit and, with Osimhen growing at a distance, Napoli found the space to attack, but also discovered some insidious restarts. The impression is that the pendulum of victory can swing to one side or the other, depending on who is better or luckier to move destiny away from their own, and the story of the season can only give an unequivocal answer in this sense : a series of excited events bring the match point on the foot of Giacomo Raspadoriwhich also takes away a great personal satisfaction;
– Beyond the tactical dispositions, the choice of eleven of Allegri suggests what is an understandable preference for knockout competitions. However, those that are considered “reservations” do not give bad answers at all: ruganidusted off to mark Osihmen, contains the league’s top scorer very well, Owned by produces a commendable performance, with moments of excellent quality (even in contrast to the current blurred version of Vlahovic) e Soule, who in his first outings always seemed a little distant from the level of the first team, is starting to show important signs of growth. Juve, hidden between the passage to the Europa League and a precarious sentence, puts together the third consecutive defeat in the league. But perhaps the least deserved of the three;
– Spalletti for his part confirms his confidence a Ndombele and choose Lozano in the trident. It is no coincidence that Napoli grows in quality and in offensive production right after the simultaneous exit of both, decidedly the worst of the blue eleven. The entrances of Zielinski and Elmas refresh Napolisupported by the umpteenth titanic test of Zambo Anguissa, and bring in the final that share of quality that Neapolitans need to go on to win it. It’s a party within a party, for a team that deserved a title that is winning with a sidereal distance on those who are even hard to define pursuers. And tonight she put the icing on the cake.