Top 5 Stories from Serie A Round 20: Golden Inter Duo Strikes Back!

AC Milan, Inter Milan, Italian Football, Juventus, Serie A, Serie A 2020-2021, Top 5 Stories

The second half of the Serie A season has officially begun. After the upsets witnessed last week, the top clubs took the opportunity to further cement their positions at the top of the table, as Juventus, Milan, Inter, Roma and Napoli all won their encounters, while Lazio earned their fifth league victory in a row at Atalanta. So here are our Top 5 stories from Serie A round 20.

The Top Three Maintain Serie A Status-Quo

After dropping points in the last weekend, the Serie A leaders Milan and their closest challengers Inter were back to winning ways in Round 20, which also witnessed a victory for the defending champions Juventus.

Nonetheless, all three wins came from very different scenarios.

Milan put their woes from last last week behind them, and sealed a hard earned 2-1 victory over a resilient Bologna side. Both Rossoneri goals came from penalty kicks (albeit one from the rebound) and Gianluigi Donnarumma had to intervene on several occasions to avoid another disappointment for Stefano Pioli’s men.

On the other hand, Inter easily cruised pass the reigning Serie B champions Benevento in a 4-0 victory. The Nerazzurri dominated the match from start to finish, while Filippo Inzaghi’s men weren’t able to produce anything worth mentioning throughout the match.

Finally, Juve’s 2-0 win over Sampdoria was probably somewhere in between the two. The Bianconeri didn’t exactly struggle to beat Claudio Ranieri’s side, but they had to wait until the 91st minute to seal the three points beyond any doubt.

The Italian champions should be pleased with this outcome, considering the fact that they arguably had the toughest test among the three top teams.

Inter Striking Duo Offers the Team an Extra Edge

Calcio had been the home of some of the most incredible striking partnerships in the sports’ history. From Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini, to Ronaldo and Christian Vieri, all the way to Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet.

Whilst modern football is leaning towards using one striker up-front, Inter’s current attaking duo – Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez – can be perceived as a throwback to the old days.

The two players complete one another in a terrific way. The Belgian is undoubtedly one of the strongest center forwards in the game today, while the Argentine uses his speed and smart movement to punish defenses, and their great understanding was once again on display when they combined to beat Serie A newcomers Benevento in round 20.

With Milan mainly relying on Zlatan Ibrahimovic to lead the front line, and Cristiano Ronaldo still unable to find a consistent partner at Juve (despite the presence of Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala), the Nerazzurri’s two strikers can give them a certain advantage over their two main rivals.

Atalanta Defense Exposed in Romero’s Absence

Cristian Romero has been of the true revelations of the season. The Juventus-owned player had been impressive at Genoa in the last couple of seasons, but ever since he moved to Atalanta, he has taken his game up a notch.

Thee young Argentine was our man of the match against Inter earlier in the season, and last week he put up an incredible performance in the 3-0 victory over Milan.

But unfortunately for the 22-year-old, he tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this week, which kept him out of the Serie A encounter against Lazio in round 20.

Although Gian Piero Gasperini fielded a decent back-three composed of Rafael Toloi, José Luis  Palomino and Berat Djimsiti, the Biancocelesti were able to find highways within Atalanta’s areas, as they avenged their Coppa Italia elimination with a 3-1 victory.

Even though the absence of the brilliant wing-back duo of Hans Hateboer and Robin Gosens played a part, it was Romero’s unavailability which caused the biggest damage for La Dea.

Destro Resurgence Could Be Key for Genoa Survival 

Around the year 2012, few young strikers were as promising as Genoa’s Mattia Destro. The former Inter youth product earned his big move to Roma after an impressive stint in the Port city.

Although his time at the capital was initially positive, things quickly turned south for the bomber, who apparently lost his striking boots, and his short stint at Milan wasn’t any better.

After a forgettable period at Bologna, Destro returned to Genoa 12 months ago. But it was only after Davide Ballardini’s arrival that the 29-year-old truly rediscovered his form. After a brace against Crotone in Round 20, he took his tally to 9 Serie A goals this term.

Similarly to the Italian striker, the Rossoblu are slowly picking themselves up after a disastrous start of the season, therefore, the player and the club can both redeem themselves while continuing to help one another.

The Battle for European Spots Could Be an Epic One

Whilst most calcio fans would agree that the battle for the Scudetto title this season could be the best in recent memory, another crunching battle seems  to be on the horizon.

Although the likes of Roma, Napoli, Lazio and Atalanta are arguably still missing few elements in order to compete for the championship, they all have what it takes to represent Italian football on the European stage, and they will be targeting a 4th spot that would ensure their qualification to next season’s edition of the Champions League.

Whilst all four teams could be deserving of a spot within the top four, they might have to settle for one available spot, with Juventus, Milan and Inter set to lock the first three positions.

But then again, we’re not ruling anyone out of the competition. Not yet anyway.

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