Between Tuesday and Thursday, Calcio fans were treated to another ten exciting matches thanks to the campaign’s second midweek round. While the likes of Inter, Roma and Milan all grabbed their customary three points, Juventus were the round’s biggest casualty as they saw their unbeaten run coming to an end in a dramatic fashion. So let’s check out the Top 5 Stories from Serie A
A Costly Error
We start from the very bottom, in a Round 10 battle that took place between two newly promoted Serie A sides who are already facing the threat of relegation.
For Venezia and Salernitana, this was a true six-pointer. But unfortunately for the Northerners, they ended up paying dearly for an obvious refereeing error, as Ethan Ampadu was sent off despite making a clean challenge on the ball. The Salerno side pounced on their numerical advantage to score a late winner.
We’re told that VAR was introduced to limit refereeing mistakes, and yet, we’re still witnessing some teams being unfairly punished with unjust calls every week.
A Killer Blow
Here’s another team who suffered from a miserable midweek, although for a completely different reason. Juventus absolutely needed to earn all three points when they hosted Sassuolo, but they ended up losing the encounter after conceding last-minute goal in courtesy of Maxime Lopez.
Due to their horrible Serie A start to the campaign, the Bianconeri were no longer allowed to commit mistakes likes these, and now they find themselves 13 points adrift from the top of the table by the end of round 10.
In the final outcome, the Old Lady saw her unbeaten 6-match streak reaching an abrupt end, and at the same time, her remaining Scudetto hopes are fading with every point dropped.
An Exhausting Roma Strategy
José Mourinho has a point to prove. And when he does, you can expect him to go all the way to the end.
The Special One proclaimed that he only has 13 players in his squad following his team’s humiliating loss in Norway last week, and thus, he’s now insisting on playing the same starting XI, as we’ve seen during the come-from behind win over Cagliari (who sit at the bottom of the Serie A table) in round 10.
The fact that Roma lack quality depth is plain to see, but one must wonder for how long can the starting players go on in this grueling schedule before an injury crisis ensue.
Let’s see where it goes.
A Wise U-Turn
Perhaps Mourinho will eventually see things from a different light and backtrack on his strategy. After all, it only took his crosstown counterpart few days and one embarrassing loss to make a complete U-turn.
Last week, Maurizio Sarri claimed that Luis Alberto will be left on the pitch because he can’t play in the same formation with Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, never minding the fact that the two have been featuring side-by-side for years now, and were behind the success of Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio.
Following the heavy defeat at the hands of Verona in their previous Serie A outing, the two men returned to feature together, and the capital side produced a much-improved performance during the round 10 win over Fiorentina.
Admitting one’s mistake can be a virtue.
The Leaders Flying High
Another matchday, another win for Napoli and Milan. The two Serie A leaders had contrasting performances against Bologna and Torino in round 10.
The Partenopei comfortably brushed aside their opponents, while the Rossoneri clung on to a slim win despite a late onslaught from their visitors.
Nevertheless, both results count for three points, as they maintain a 7 point gap with the rest of the chasing pack.
Inter remain the Scudetto favorites in many observers’ eyes, and some are refusing to count out the likes of Roma, Atalanta and Juventus just yet.
However, this moment belongs to Napoli and Milan, as their fascinating runs have cemented them as first runners for the title – whether they’d like to admit it or not.