Juventus won convincingly to ascend the summit of Serie A again while Napoli could only manage a draw way to Genoa. There were convincing wins for Inter, Roma and Milan as they begin to form the chasing pack, and Chievo Verona kept up their own magnificent start to the season with another win at home against Sassuolo.
We look at the talking points below from a captivating midweek of Serie A action,
#1 Pjanic and Lemina better off as side midfielders
Massimilliano Allegri, the experienced Juve manager has initially wanted to play Miralem Pjanic in the center of midfield and while the former Milan coach’s logic can be understood, it is clearly not his best position. While Pjanic certainly has the technical attributes to play like Andrea Pirlo in the center of the park and ping passes all over the pitch, it just isn’t the best use of his talents. The Bosnian likes to play closer to goal, and is so much more lethal and allowed to roam forward.
Similarly Mario Lemina also demonstrated how much sharper he is in a side midfield position.
While this means that Allegri will only have the option of playing Hernanes in the middle of the park until Claudio Marchisio returns from injury, he must surely consider this option in the big games now because it gets the best out of his other players.
#2 Carlos Bacca, the most clinical striker around?
I’m not going to make some absurd claim that Carlos Bacca is the best striker in the world even though Adriano Galliani, Milan’s CEO claimed that Bacca is worth as much as Gonzalo Higuain recently. It’s clear that they’re several center forwards in world football with a much better all round game than the Colombian. But the reality also is that Bacca has got an absolute sensational scoring record per shots on goal for Milan.
The Colombian has had to spend matches yearning for a solitary opportunity (that is how dire Milan’s play has often been), but the moment he’s got half a chance in front of goal Bacca has buried it.
You might want to check out how many strikers in European football have managed to score 23 goals from just 45 shots on target. You might not find any.
#3 Inter’s best transfer move – Hanging on to Mauro Icardi
There was a time in the summer transfer market that it seemed certain Mauro Icardi would leave Inter. His agent cum girlfriend Wanda Nara was constantly hitting out at the club and angling for a move and clubs were lining up with bids. Tottenham, Arsenal, Juve, Atletico Madrid and Napoli were all seriously interested at different points of time and it seemed without doubt that Inter would have to grant his wishes at some point.
But Inter were resolute and turned down sizeable bids from several clubs, there was no way they were selling their captain and a player so imperative to their team. Finding another forward of his quality in today’s market would have been almost impossible in any case.
The new ownership must be patting themselves on the back for their conviction as Icardi as made a blistering start to the new season with 6 goals in 5 Serie A games. Only 23 years old, Icardi could become an Inter legend in the years to come.
#4 Napoli denied two penalties, manager Sarri livid
Maurizio Sarri, the Napoli manager was anything but thrilled in the post match press conference after the 0-0 draw at the Marassi against Genoa. His side had dominated possession and created chances, only for Marek Hamsik to thwack the crossbar and for his team to be denied a couple of strong penalty appeals.
Sarri was considerably irritated when Arek Milik was hauled down by Diego Laxalt inside the box and the referee chose to ignore the incident. In the view of the Napoli manager there should have been another penalty for Lucas Ocampos’s hand ball inside the box.
The goalless draw would have frustrated the Italian maverick manager, as his side lost the Serie A lead to Juventus. It’s only 5 rounds into the season and it might not mean so much in terms of points lost but the psycological advantage would have been important.
#5 Roma defence will be key to league standing
AS Roma had an impressive home win against Crotone at the Stadio Olimpico, scoring four goals in the process but coach Luciano Spalletti will be equally happy with their clean sheet. It’s taken them 5 games to keep a clean sheet again, and though Roma have a potent attacking force, you don’t really win titles without a solid defense.
The Giallorossi have a tough fixture list coming up and how their defense fares against the top opposition in the league will say a lot about where they’re going to finish this year. Roma will next play Torino and Napoli away, before hosting Inter Milan at the San Siro.
