After what seemed like an endless Winter Break, Serie A is back with a bang this weekend as Roma travel to San Siro to face rivals Inter, while Napoli play bogey team Atalanta hoping not to lose their one point advantage over Juventus in the table.
Sarri faces his old foe
Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri must dread facing Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini. While the Tuscan tactician has enjoyed huge success since he first entered the top flight with Empoli in 2014/15, he has only won three from 12 encounters versus Sunday morning’s opposition boss.
Indeed, La Dea put Napoli out of the Coppa Italia quarter-final on January 2 and beat them home and away in the league last term. Defender Mattia Caldara thinks he knows his side’s secret and will be hoping Atalanta can repeat such a feat once again.
“Gasperini asks us to be aggressive, as if you leave Napoli the space to pass the ball, you won’t be able to catch them,” the Juventus loanee told Sky Italia. “He wants us to press them really hard and that is how we must play on Sunday too.”
Juventus need to crank up the pressure
After Napoli have endured the entire Winter Break knowing they are just one point ahead of the side who have won the last six consecutive league titles in Serie A, Juventus must use this weekend’s match versus Genoa to display their dominance. It was only in 2015/16 when the Bianconeri went unbeaten from October 31st to the end of the campaign, closing a huge gap to Napoli and – while Sarri has undoubtedly improved his side since then – this must be on the minds of fans and players alike.
The Old Lady will host Genoa at Juventus stadium, a place where they have won 35 from their last 38 matches. The odds are not favourable for the Grifone, but Coach Max Allegri may find that his opponents are hard to break down. It may have been a case of third time lucky when they hired former boss Davide Ballardini to replace Ivan Juric back in November, as the experienced boss has certainly made Genoa more difficult to beat.
The Rossoblu have kept a clean sheet in their last four matches, more than any other side in Europe’s top five leagues and now sit 14th in the table, six points away from the relegation zone.
Spotlight on Inter-Roma
Both Inter boss Luciano Spalletti and his Giallorossi counterpart Eusebio Di Francesco are under pressure to bring about a result from this key clash on Sunday evening, after suffering poor form before the Winter Break. The Nerazzurri are without a win in their last five encounters while Roma only took one point from their last three matches. Di Francesco will have the advantage of having Radja Nainggolan back in the side after the Belgian was suspended during their defeat to Atalanta for his extra-curricular activities, but the boss took the opportunity to hint at a change of formation this week.
The former Roma midfielder has been wedded to his 4-3-3 formation ever since becoming a coach, but recent criticism over inflexibility has seen him address those concerns.
“I’ve had great masters like [Zdenek] Zeman, but football changes quickly and we can’t be fundamentalists. For example, I start from a 4-3-3, but I could change soon and switch to a 4-2-3-1. That doesn’t mean changing the philosophy though,” EDF told a FIGC seminar. “My teams must always be aggressive, look to win the ball high and stay compact at 30-40 metres to deny the opponents space and give ourselves more options in possession.”
