⚽️🇮🇹 The Tuesday Calcio Wrap-Up #7 : Inter drop points, draw galore and some Serie B madness
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.
Well, I feel like I say this every Tuesday but…the title race just got even more CRAZY. Atalanta are definitely out of it, if they weren’t already. Parma earned a draw against Inter, opening the door for Napoli, who went on to DRAW with Vincenzo Italiano’s Bologna side, keeping them within three points of Simone Inzaghi’s men. This will be music to Juventus, Roma and Lazio fans’ ears, too, given that Bologna are performing so well and in a great position to take that 4th (or even 3rd given Atalanta’s form freefalling) spot in the league. Overall, this week threw up a load of draws, with seven games finishing even - some of which proving interesting for all the different races going on from relegation to European football. Elsewhere, we saw some crazy moments in the Serie B and more interesting things happening further down the Italian football leghi. All of this and more in this week’s Tuesday Calcio Wrap-Up. Andiamo…
🏁 Neck and neck: Inter give Napoli a chance to close the gap
It was all on what Napoli would do this weekend given Inter were facing relegation-threatened Parma, and Napoli travelled to a high-performing Vincenzo Italiano Bologna side. Instead, we witnessed Parma holding Inter to a 2-2 draw at the Ennio Tardini. A great result for the Gialloblu, which becomes even more impressive when you find out they were 2-0 down, scoring twice in nine minutes to bring the game level.
This gave Napoli a chance. Away to Bologna, Conte and his men faced a massive challenge in what seemed a must-win game for the Partenope. And it was going to plan with a spectacular Zambo Anguissa goal to put them 1-0 up heading into half time. Cue a Bologna onslaught in the second half where Napoli had to endure waves of Bologna attacks. The equaliser came from a wonderful move being finished off by a delightful Dan Ndoye backheel. I don’t recall a chance for Napoli in the second half until stoppage time as Vincenzo Italiano won the tactical battle. It was terrible watching for Napoli fans, that’s for sure. Napoli came back to life in added time, putting pressure on Italiano’s side but it wasn’t enough. Napoli failed to take advantage of the chance Inter gave them (again) and the gap stays at three points. I must say - that Napoli were lucky to take a point, too…
That is Napoli’s toughest test for the run-in done, though. They now have to play the likes of Monza, Lecce, Empoli and Cagliari, whereas Inter have Lazio, Roma and Bologna to play as well as the Champions League and Coppa Italia to worry about. All to play for…
🔒 Draw, draw and draw some more
Seven draws. SEVEN. That’s what we had to deal with over this matchweek. Despite this, though, it wasn’t as boring as draws sound. We had a Parma comeback, another scramble to rescue a point from Milan after another terrible start, Juventus and Roma locking horns and Venezia and Lecce carrying on their fantastic battle for survival. All of these games were fascinating because of the implications for the run-in. Juventus and Roma drawing and Atalanta losing means the battle for the Champions League heats up. Fiorentina will rue the day they let their two-goal lead against Milan slip because they missed the chance to move up the table, too. Milan have not been good enough at all, and the fact they were 2-0 down within 10 minutes is telling of their situation. Yes, they rescued a point but they can’t rely on that for long-term progress. They’re currently the team with the highest amount of points rescued from losing positions…and they’re in 9th. Imagine what could have been…
At the other end of the table, Lecce could have moved further away from Empoli and widened the gap, but it remains at two points. Venezia will not be happy with a draw as they currently sit four points from Lecce. I genuinely cannot call the relegation battle. Of course, Monza are gone but Lecce, Empoli and Venezia are fighting it out, and Parma are slipping into the mere. If I were to predict it, I think Venezia and Empoli will go down with Monza. I just can’t see Lecce and Parma being worse than those two, which will keep them up.
🧠 Who, what, where and when?! The manager saga in Italy
As ever, the managerial situation across the league is madness. We've seen the big sackings this season. Thiago Motta moved on. Paulo Fonseca, too. But as we edge closer to the end of the season, the rumour mill heats up. Questions being asked: who is going to replace Sergio Conceição (because it’s highly unlikely he will stay at Milan)? Will Igor Tudor remain at Juventus? Is the relationship between Antonio Conte and Aurelio De Laurentiis about to implode? Who is the heir to Ranieri at Roma? And what does Gian Piero Gasperini do next? Well, the latest debates are about Maurizio Sarri and Max Allegri to Milan or Atalanta, Antonio Conte to Juventus and Erik Ten Hag to Roma after being spotted watching their game this weekend. We’re in for a crazy managerial market come the summer, so I’d advise we strap ourselves in and brace for a bit of managerial madness. It’s all fun and games…
🎩 Joel Pohjanpalo is a machine as Serie B goes nuts
I had to include this bit in the newsletter because it was a wonderful weekend of Serie B football. If Sassuolo won and the results went their way, they’d have cemented promotion back to Serie A. Step up - Joel Pohjanpalo. The Palermo man scored a hattrick as the Rosonero stunned top of the league 5-3. Elsehwere, Spezia won and closed the gap on Pisa in second place. Modena defeated Pippo Inzaghi’s men, whose recent inconsistent form casts doubt on their chances of securing automatic promotion. Cosenza and Sampdoria lose again, with the chances of the latter slipping into the third division becoming increasingly likely as weeks go on.
Keeping an eye away from the Serie A, here are this week’s headlines from the lower divisions of calcio:
Serie B
🤯 Sampdoria lose (again) and sack their manager. Alberico Evani returns to the club as coach, and Roberto Mancini returns as technical director as the club tries desperately to not slip into Serie C, which would be catastrophic for a club who were competing in European football once upon a time.
Serie C
🏟️ Arezzo are getting a new stadium with planning being approved recently. The project will be covered by a private investor and is a move that is interesting regarding the ongoing debate around calcio infrastructure. Read more on the stadium here.
Serie D
🍾 Livorno are promoted! The club confirmed their promotion back to Serie C and the scenes after the match were wonderful. Celebrations galore for a club that folded back in 2020 and rejoined the fifth division of Italian football in 2021 under a new name.
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