A misstep for Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan, which drew 1-1 at home to Genoa (yet another great result for Alberto GIlardino against a top team), a very important win for Max Allegri’s Juventus on Sunday night against Roma. Two crucial games at the top of the standings, but a lot more happened over the Serie A weekend. Let’s check it out…
SURPRISE OF THE WEEK – BOLOGNA DEFEATED BY UDINESE
No one could have imagined that this would be a surprise, because no one would have expected Bologna to have such a successful season, but the truth is that the loss of Thiago Motta’s boys against Udinese left everyone speechless.
It was probably something imaginable, since no one in Bologna is used to playing with such pressure on their shoulders, but Udinese was perfect on Sunday and it was impossible for Joshua Zirkzee and his teammates to react and respond to the blows dealt by the Bianconeri.
First Roberto Pereyra, who returned to shine in the Udinese jersey after a difficult period, then Lorenzo Lucca (who finally has blossomed) and Martin Payero signed the heavy 3-0 loss to Bologna.
Lewis Ferguson, ZIrkzee, Riccardo Orsolini: no one was able to give the right steering to the match and in just 52′ Udinese had closed the game. An astonishing result, which of course does not affect the magnificent journey made so far by Motta’s Bologna. Their journey continues, despite this painful misstep.
MATCH OF THE WEEK – JUVENTUS-ROMA
There have probably never been beautiful matches between two teams of Max Allegri and Jose Mourinho, two extraordinary coaches, skilled like no one else in making life impossible or at least very difficult for their opponents.
Sunday night’s match between Juventus and Roma was deadlocked, almost a chess game, which was won by the former Milan coach, Max, who, thanks to a cue from Dusan Vlahovic and Adrien Rabiot, found the goal that opened and closed the game.
A flash was all that was needed, although still the Bianconeri had come close to scoring on two occasions, only to be prevented by two miraculous interventions by Gianluca Mancini and Evan Ndicka. Roma had also come close to scoring, especially with the post hit by Bryan Cristante.
Mourinho chose for the umpteenth time to rely on the Leandro Paredes-Cristante duo in the midfield, with these two forming an overly static pair with restricted movement. Roma’s ranking is quite bad, and a completely opposite level of performance to the current one will be needed in 2024.
Suffice it to say that at the moment Roma is as much as five points away from fourth place, which is currently occupied by Vincenzo Italiano’s Fiorentina (who was mentioned in the week as a possible heir to Mourinho at Roma). The ranking is disappointing and in Sunday’s challenge came yet another knockout in a big match. Kudos must be given to Rabiot and Juventus, but Roma is picking up too little.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK – ADEMOLA LOOKMAN
The fact that Ademola Lookman will now leave Atalanta to play for his national team, Nigeria, is really bad news for Gian Piero Gasperini. The former Leicester player scored yet again, but more importantly he gave another three very heavy points to his teammates, who were having a lot of difficulties on their way to the winning goal against Lecce on Sunday.
Gianluca Scamacca, Mario Pasalic… no one had been able to find the winning move, but as usual the Nigerian striker, who has brought out all his talent at his disposal since arriving in Bergamo, took care of the situation.
The one scored against Lecce was the seventh goal of the season, a true number 9’s haul, although Lookman also has other merits and characteristics. Few players are making such a difference in Serie A, and Gasperini will find it difficult to replace him during the next weeks.
TEAM OF THE WEEK – FIORENTINA
Brava Fiorentina! The team coached by Vincenzo Italiano is putting aside those flaws that last season jeopardized their chances of winning trophies and finishing fourth in the standings, all because the coach is becoming extremely pragmatic, showing that he has grown enormously in the last period.
Last weekend Fiorentina won 1-0 against Torino thanks to a goal scored by Luca Ranieri, moving them up to fourth place in the standings, only three points behind Stefano Pioli’s Milan. The championship is still long, but Italiano should be given a big round of applause because the growth of his team is evident.
