Home / Featured / Juve’s new crown jewel, Inter’s no. 1 man: 5 observations from Serie A round 20

Juve’s new crown jewel, Inter’s no. 1 man: 5 observations from Serie A round 20

Another 10 games, another round of Italian football completed. And as has been the case with the previous 19 rounds, matchday 20 certainly did not disappoint. There were plenty of goals to go around and in one major team’s case, a new face on the tactician’s bench; for another, he just may have earned himself yet another stay of execution with his future with the club constantly the subject of speculation.

So what did we observe and learn from matchday 20 of the 2015/2016 Serie A campaign? Let’s have a look:

1. No Tevez, no worries…Juventus have a new crown jewel in their ranks

Nicknamed La Joya (the Jewel), Paulo Dybala is certainly rapidly living up to his name. He has been called the “next Messi” – a moniker that has been applied to quite a few talents – and that remains to be seen as to whetehr he can match the heights reached by his compatriot, who clinched his fifth Ballon d’Or prize this past Monday.

However, one thing is certain: brought in to replace Carlos Tevez, Dybala has started to make fans miss “El Apache” a tad less, especially after his brilliant performance against Udinese. The ex-Palermo man was involved in all four of the team’s goals – two goals and two assists – as Juventus cruised to their 10th straight win and keep within touching distance of Napoli, who still lead the pack. Still, with the form that la Vecchia Signora have been in as of late, the Partenopei will certainly be looking over their shoulders warily as they hope to maintain their narrow two point lead over the reigning Scudetto champions.

2. Roma’s problems…are far from over

They might have dismissed coach Rudi Garcia after a poor run of form that have seen them fall well off the pace and tumble down the table into fifth, but the Giallorossi are still very much a work in progress. Luciano Spaletti, now in his second spell with the capital club was only able to steer them to a draw against Hellas Verona – who are the only side without a win in the league this season – and they looked far from comfortable against the Gialloblu after their visitors pulled back an equalizer in the second half.  Much food for thought indeed if they want to have any chance to start chasing down the top four sides.

3. AC Milan 2-0 Fiorentina = stay of execution for Mihajlovic?

It took nearly ten years, but Milan finally managed to do something they had failed to so since March 2006 – to score more than more one goal at the San Siro versus Fiorentina. More important, the Diavolo got some small revenge on the Viola from defeating them on matchday one this season by beating Paulo Sousa’s side 2-0 to earn their first win of 2016.

Sinisa Mihajlovic’s job had reportedly been on the line prior to the game, despite seeing the Rossoneri defeat Carpi to book their ticket in the Coppa Italia semi-finals. With Roma stumbling to a draw and Sassuolo being coolly dispatched by Napoli, Milan have now risen into sixth and sit just three points away from a European football spot. With Empoli coming up next, all eyes will be on whether their impressive performance against Fiorentina was just a flash in the pan, or whether this is a sign of better things to come both for the players and their manager.

4. Inter’s no. 1 man again saves the day

Meanwhile, Milan’s cross-town rivals Inter had another frustrating weekend, this time being held to a stalemate against Atalanta. Nerazzurri fans have seen their team’s form dip as of late, but were relieved that, ironically, their city rivals did them a favor of sorts by making sure that Fiorentina did not leapfrog them and take third spot.

It was a game of embarrassing own goals, but it indeed is a testament to Inter keeper Samir Handanovic’s skills between the posts that he was only beaten by his own defender and not from anything that Atalanta actually threw at him. The Slovenian shot-stopper had to come up big time and time again, and although he has conceded two goals in his past two games – including a late penalty against Sassuolo – his performances have been key to the reason why Inter have conceded the fewest number of goals (13) so far this campaign. The team might get a lot of critique for their lack of goals, with the majority of their wins as a result of 1-0 games, but Handanovic fully deserves any praise he gets – and more – for his titanic showings for Inter so far this season.

5. Party like it’s 1990 for Napoli?

Sure, there are 18 more rounds to go before a (possibly new) Scudetto champion is crowned this May. But Napoli took one step closer towards achieving just that by taking down “giant-killers” Sassuolo after falling behind early in the game. For starters, the Partenopei were crowned “winter champions”, a title that bears no silverware but as of late has been a good predictor of who will lift the Scudetto at the end of a Serie A campaign. In fact, over the past dozen campaigns, the team who ends up on top at the midway point has been the one to become champions of Italy,.

The last time Napoli won the Scudetto was 26 years ago, in 1990. They were also named as the winter champions during the glorious days of Diego Maradona, who scored 16 out of his team’s total of 57 during the 1989/1990 campaign. Just like back then, the Partenopei are being led by another Argentinian striker: Gonzalo Higuain. The ex-Real Madrid man, who grabbed himself a brace in his team’s fightback against the plucky Neroverdi, has scored 20 out of his team’s 41 goals this term and is on course to clinch the Capocannoniere with a nine-goal advantage over Sampdoria’e Eder. And with a two point lead over Juventus, it certainly looks like it’s going to be an interesting battle between these two sides for the coveted title at the end of this season.

Will we see more shake-ups in the top four? Can Roma get back on track under a new coach? Will Milan inch closer to a European spot? And what other surprises are in store for the other teams in the top flight this season?

 

About Michelle Bonsu

As a proud Ghanaian-American, Pele vs. Maradona was debated in my family as much as who should be the next president. Whilst many of my neighbors were all about the World Series and Super Bowl, for us it was all about the World Cup, AFCON, and EURO tournaments, and any major game across Europe. Whilst I grew up supporting the EPL, a visit to Italy and chance to see Paolo Maldini in action with AC Milan soon saw Serie A added to an area of interest. I also tune in to Ligue 1 thanks to the presence of players like Vincent Enyeama and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and watch the Bundesliga & La Liga on a casual basis. Since graduating from uni, I have long had the desire to make writing about the world's most popular sport a full-time business; however for now, I currently write on a part-time/freelance basis. Hopefully in the near future, this ambition will become a reality and in the meantime, my work can be found at a host of sites, including LiveSoccerTV, Proven Quality, Top Soccer, Football Italia, IST, and more. You can check out samples of my work by visiting those sites or following me on Twitter to see some of my musings - occasionally with a touch of snark and sarcasm - on the happenings in world football.
@@MichelleB289

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