On Sunday, the two Serie A favourites and longtime rivals, Inter Milan and Juventus, square off as Walter Mazzarri takes over at struggling Napoli for the second time.
Leaders Inter have had an incredible season so far, sitting two points clear of Juventus after 12 games. They appear to be Italy’s greatest team and have secured their spot in the Champions League knockout stages with two games remaining.
They are now starting a harsh series of games against a Juventus team that has come to represent Massimiliano Allegri’s hyper-pragmatic brand of football: it’s difficult to watch and much more difficult to dissect.
Juve, who have the advantage of having no European games on their schedule because of last season’s accounting scandals, are Inter’s strongest rivals while Milan and champions Napoli are both struggling.
While this is going on, Inter plays Juventus in Turin, travels to Portugal to play Benfica, and then moves on to Naples—a less daunting opponent than it was the previous season—with Udinese, Real Sociedad, and Lazio following in the following three weeks.
With 29 goals, including an astounding 12 goals in 12 games from Lautaro Martinez, Simone Inzaghi’s club has the top attack in the league and the best defensive with just six goals allowed.
Additionally, considering that Roma manager Jose Mourinho stated that Inter “should win the league by 20 points” and that Juve’s top scorers, Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic, have both been stuck on four goals since September, it appears that their opponents lack the firepower to seriously hurt Inter.
In the meantime, Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta has attempted to deflect attention away from Juve in light of their continental obligations in an effort to temper expectations following the failure of their previous two title challenges.
“In the medium term Juve are favourites because not taking part in European competition allows you to better plan training sessions and means less physical stress on players,” Marotta stated to reporters on Tuesday.
“We have all the necessary components—a strong squad, a capable manager, and reliable owners—to contend for championships. Let’s follow suit from last year and do it again this season.
Napoli, who are now 10 points behind the leaders, will have a difficult trip to Atalanta on Saturday as Walter Mazzarri attempts to turn around a title defence that is currently off track.
Nearly since the beginning of the season, Napoli has been a disorganised team. Rudi Garcia rapidly established himself as an inappropriate successor to Luciano Spalletti, and president Aurelio De Laurentiis’s decision to cling to the past has not instilled trust in the team.
Mazzarri has been a living meme for his excuses for losing, which include players being sick, it being Edinson Cavani’s birthday, and rain. He has not been a coach for eighteen months.
However, Napoli failed to draw in a major name, and the 62-year-old at least has fond memories of leading the largest club in southern Italy back to the top of Serie A more than ten years ago.
Napoli is currently in the Champions League spots, but an Atalanta victory would put them ahead of the champions in the top four.