The Tuesday Calcio Wrap-Up #6 ⚽️🇮🇹: A two horse race, more Ranieri magic and Orsolini asks: Spalletti, are you watching?
Welcome to this week's wrap-up, where I give my thoughts on all the ups, downs and round and rounds from a weekend of Calcio fun.
A HUGE shift in the Scudetto race this week, with Atalanta dropping points and both Inter and Napoli winning. Moise Kean put Gian Piero Gasperini’s men to the sword, earning Fiorentina a 1-0 win and all but ruling out the Bergamo side from the title race. Inter see off a resilient Udinese side, and Napoli survive a wave of Milan pressure in the dying moments to keep themselves within touching distance of the top spot. Elsewhere, Cosenza had a disaster, and Riccardo Orsolini keeps asking questions of Azzurri manager Luciano Spalletti as Bologna continue their march for Champions League football.
🐎 A two-horse race that’s going down to the wire
In what looked like a three-team race for the Scudetto, Atalanta were always the outsiders, consistently flirting with taking the top spot. But with shoddy form and their apparent lack of ability to see off the bigger teams, Gasperini’s men have dropped out of the race, leaving Antonio Conte’s Napoli and Simone Inzaghi’s Inter to battle it out. As it stands, the Nerazzurri sit three points clear of Napoli, but there is still plenty to play for. This title race is the most entertaining in Europe and while Conte still somewhat plays down Napoli’s chances, it’ll go right down to the wire. The Partenope managed to keep a hold of their one-goal lead against Milan in the dying moments, which led to a massive sigh of relief from Conte and his men. A very early Matteo Politano goal, followed by a Romelu Lukaku second and an Alex Meret penalty save, was required for Napoli to answer Inter’s earlier 2-1 win over Udinese at San Siro. I suspect that Antonio Conte will be watching Inter’s midweek Coppa Italia battle with a keen eye and hoping for a small injury or two, although he’d not admit it.
🏛️ Roma march on - can they get Champions League?
Claudio Ranieri has worked wonders since taking the job at Roma. Another win under their belt this weekend, and they're a step closer to securing some form of European football, something that looked unachievable a few months ago. They’re currently lingering around the Conference League spots, but with only a three-point gap from Juventus and a four-point gap from Bologna, there’s no reason Roma can’t dream of breaking into the top four. Roma are unbeaten in Serie A in 2025, but questions may be raised as they only managed to score once against a struggling Lecce side. If it wasn’t for that shocking Angelino miss, they’d have got through this game a bit more comfortably. This is something to make note of, especially given how difficult their run-in is - Juventus, Inter, Lazio, Fiorentina, Milan and Torino all left to play.
The battle for fourth spot is definitely in full throttle, especially with the recent arrival of Igor Tudor at Juventus and Bologna’s recent form. Lazio are in the mix, too, as they look to juggle a Europa League campaign with their fight for the Champions League. Milan? Well, sorry, Rossoneri fans - you’re out.
👊 Knock, knock! Riccardo Orsolini is (and has been for a while) here
As Bologna’s top scorer this season with 11 goals, Orsolini continuously proves why he’s one of the best attacking players in the league. However, it seems one man doesn’t want to take notice, and that is Luciano Spalletti. Orsolini scored one of the goals of the season this weekend as Bologna beat Venezia at the Stadio Penzo. The celebration that followed was similar to his previous goals pre-international break - running over to the camera and knocking on the lens as if to say, “Where are you, Mister Spalletti?!” The Azzurri manager opted for Matteo Politano instead of Riccardo Orsolini, which raised many eyebrows (mine included), considering the Bologna winger’s form. Regardless, Vincenzo Italiano will be hoping he continues this form for the rest of the season as he’ll be desperate to secure Champions League and prove all the doubters of the post-Motta era wrong.
Keeping an eye away from the Serie A, here are this week’s headlines from the lower divisions of calcio:
Serie B
🫣 A DISASTER for Cosenza, with two red cards in the first half and a 3-0 loss to Pisa. They sacked manager Nicola Belmonte, reappointing Max Alvini four weeks after sacking him. Relegation seems certain, which could prove catastrophic to a club like Cosenza and their financial state
💔 Sampdoria lost AGAIN, worsening the situation in Genova as they slip into the automatic relegation places and risk heading to the third division
A wonderful read here by Alex Brotherton on the current situation at Sampdoria
Serie C
⚖️ Padova drop points away to Atalanta U23 and Vicenza take the opportunity, beating Pro Vercelli 0-1 and going top of Group A
Elsewhere
🏆 In Serie D, Group E - Livorno are all but confirmed as heading up to Serie C as they sit 13pts clear with 5 games to go
🥂 In Group F, Sambenedettese are almost up, too, with a 9pt gap between them and Teramo
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