Serie A Round 30 was split between two days only, with eight games played on Sunday after a Saturday appetizer featuring the Derby of Turin and an interesting Lazio-Milan battle.
Stefano Pioli’s Rossoneri savagely dented Lazio’s title ambitions by finding the back of the net three times against Simone Inzaghi’s band. Juventus, on the other hand, easily saw off the city rivals to place a strong claim on the Italian title. Behind them, Atalanta captured their 8th win in a row and are now targeting Inter to steal the third spot in the table.
Here are the top 5 stories from the Serie A round that was concluded on Sunday night:
Juventus See Clear Path Ahead Towards the Scudetto
Let’s be frank: The race for the Italian title is over as Juventus are ready to grab their 9thScudetto in a row. Not necessarily because of Maurizio Sarri’s squad’s merit, but rather because the gap between the Bianconeri and the pursuing pack is still just too wide.
Juventus simply did what they had to do on Saturday as they thrashed Torino 4-1 in the Derby della Mole. A pretty harsh outcome for the Granata who held their won for one half against their opponents but ultimately couldn’t do much to put Juventus’ win under discussion. The Bianconeri’s triumph was embellished by Cristiano Ronaldo’s first goal from a free-kick during his Serie A experience.
Lazio, on the other hand, lost 0-3 at home to Milan and fell seven points behind Juventus. The Biancocelesti have lost two out of their four games since the restart and pretty much gave up their chances of disturbing the Zebras on the way to the title race. Coach Simone Inzaghi had to face the Rossoneri without his best strikers Ciro Immobile and Felipe Caicedo, and the outcome was merciless. Lazio seem to no longer have any fuel in the tank, and their much smaller roster than Juventus’ is ultimately making the difference.
Antonio Conte’s Inter Too Inconsistent to Make a Difference
If before the season start you would have asked who were Juventus’ toughest challengers on the way to the title, the sure answer would have been Antonio Conte’s Inter.
Indeed, the Nerazzurri managed to keep the same pace as the Bianconeri for quite some time but ultimately fell behind as they proved too inconsistent to pose a threat to Maurizio Sarri’s armada.
Sunday’s 1-2 loss to Bologna proved the point once again. Inter dilapidated a one-goal lead and a one-man advantage to see the Rossoblu come from behind and snatch a key win to virtually secure their permanence in the Serie A. Oddly enough, both Bologna’s goals were scored by Gambian players: 18-year-old Musa Juwara equalized after Romelu Lukaku’s initial lead, then Musa Barrow secured Bologna’s win in the 80th minute.
And now, Inter have only a one-point lead over Atalanta, who caught their fifth win in a row since the COVID-induced break thanks to Luis Muriel’s lone goal in Cagliari…
Samp Grab Three Points To Move Away From Drop Zone
In the space of four days, Sampdoria managed to distance themselves from the relegation zone as they captured two key wins against two direct contenders.
After beating Lecce 2-1, the Blucerchiati caught a sounding 3-0 win over SPAL, scoring three goals in the first half already. Claudio Ranieri benefited from a brace by Karol Linetty and a goal by Manolo Gabbiadini scored from a free-kick. Ranieri inherited the team in October after a disastrous start under the helm of Eusebio Di Francesco with the goal of saving their season. Once again, The Tinkerman seems to have done his job.
For Luigi Di Biagio’s Biancazzurri, this was an unexpected setback after their encouraging performance against Milan on Tuesday. SPAL are now last in the table and seven points far from safety with eight games to go.
It’s difficult to imagine they will find the strength to avoid an almost inevitable relegation, also in view of Brescia’s 2-0 win over Verona – propitiated by a goal of 18-year-old defender Andrea Papetti.
Pulgar Makes Fiorentina Breathe as They Wait For De Rossi
Fiorentina have been one of the most disappointing teams since the post-COVID restart. Before today, The Viola had collected only one point in three games.
Sunday’s 2-1 win at Parma, courtesy of Erick Pulgar’s brace, will likely give president Rocco Commisso’s squad some time to breathe and plan for the upcoming season. After finishing 16th in the 2018-19 campaign and now being on track for an anonymous mid-table placement, Fiorentina fans will rightly be hoping for something more in the upcoming season.
Some planning seems already undergoing as the name of Daniele De Rossi as a potential future coach for the Viola emerged in the past few days. Will the former Roma star be ready to land a Serie A coaching job with no previous experience?
Roma Navigating Through Troubled Times
Sure, Roma’s loss to Napoli was mostly the consequence of a masterpiece goal by Lorenzo Insigne. Still, the Giallorossi collected their third defeat in a row on Sunday and were reached by the Partenopei in the 5th spot of the table, just two points ahead of Milan.
Roma’s participation in the next Europa League doesn’t seem to be at risk yet but surely the club’s expectations were set much higher before the beginning of the season. Fans are not happy either and on Sunday morning they made their point very clear by displaying a banner reading “you are the shame of the city” in front of the club’s training center.
Add to it that sporting director Gianluca Petrachi was recently suspended from his role over rumored disagreements with the management and that president James Pallotta has been unsuccessfully trying to sell the club for a few months by now, and you get the full picture of a pretty explosive mix in a very unstable environment. It’s going to be a troubled end of the season in the Italian capital.