Napoli, the joker goes away against Genoa. Everyone is to blame: not even Conte is convincing this time

Naples, 12 May 2025 - It thundered so much that it rained: in the parable between optimism motivated by the team's excellent recent performance and excessive and premature triumphalism, the first real twist has crept into the fight for the Scudetto since the return of Napoli. To the Maradona presents itself a Genoa with several absences but still motivated not to make a bad impression against the league leaders. And so it will be, despite the very rapid lead signed by Romelu Lukaku at the suggestion of Scott McTominay, which will then be repeated during an evening that saw him go from goal scorer to assist scorer with the same excellent profit (at least on a personal level): he will take advantage of it James Raspadori, another one who never backs down when he has to make his voice heard close to the finish line, without falling into the proverbial tennis elbow. The one who instead, perhaps, for one evening crumbled the certainties of best defense in the league, which falls first with the unfortunate own goal of Alex Meret on the horn of Honest Ahanor, curiously born in Aversain Campania, and then on the other peremptory header of John Vasquez, for a 2-2 final which reopens a glimmer of hope for theInter: the real size of this crack depends (still) solely and exclusively on the Azzurri.  

Napoli and Inter standings and schedule

  Much, if not all, will probably be decided by the next round, the penultimate one of the tournament. The Neapolitans, now at 78 points, will visit a Parma not yet safe and, in general, often dangerous against top-class teams: the Nerazzurri, on the other hand, 77 points, will host a Lazio in full brawl Europe, overlooking the Champions League but also, with a very short standings in that area in hand, with the specter of being left out of everything. In short, neither of the two rivals, at least in theory, should have an easy life before closing their championship respectively at home against Cagliari and at the home of a As an returned from 6 wins in a row. So, looking at the issue from the perspective of the Napoli, perhaps the last trap left on the horizon is really just the Tardini, but ultimately on the eve also the home match against a Genoa safe, satisfied and in theory without any more ambitions appeared (mistakenly) little more than a formality. Instead, between light-heartedness and perhaps some residue of the bitterness left by the relegation of 3 years ago certified right at Fuorigrotta on the day the city said goodbye Lorenzo Insigne, the rossoblù are playing it, as it should be but perhaps not for an Italian football too often accustomed to baptizing well in advance the matches that involve teams that apparently have no ambitions left. Between 'beach' afterthoughts, off-field suggestions for that twinning that is as long as it has been shaky for some years, excessive confidence in their own means and legs that begin to tremble on the eve of the showdown, instead the Napoli stumbles on the Genoa, playing what many (and the same Antonio Conte) has been defined as the only bonus available before what would be an authentic harakiri. Of course, speaking of sports suicides, the first one was perhaps that ofInter, who in the last few weeks in the head to head with the Azzurri has squandered a lot 6 points, before yesterday's partial and probably unexpected recovery thanks to the victory of Turin. A half smile for Simone Inzaghi and his boys, still attached to home affairs Napoli to be able to hope for what would be a sensational twist.

Criticisms of Conte and his defense

In a square often without half-measures, from thoughts of the open-top bus to parade along the iconic seafront, we have gone in a few hours to the fear of throwing away a championship, no matter how things go, that has gone beyond all expectations. All perspectives change and so does the dialectic of Tale, first a firefighter in the moment of total euphoria and then a motivator now that the wind has suddenly changed direction. The first step in these cases is to try to put into perspective what happened on the lawn of Maradona, starting with the performance of the Genoa. "Two shots and two goals", was the verdict of the Salento coach, who forgot the crossbar in his calculations Andrea Pinamonti, yet another friendly wood in the Azzurri's season. This time not even the upright is enough to protect an advantage that was wasted twice by a team coming off 3 defeats in a row. Something true in the words of Tale but there is because, speaking only of shots on target, the calculation reads 11 a 2 for Napoli, with the spectrum widening to 22 a 8 for the total conclusions. The first capital sin of the Azzurri was to miss the knockout blow, thus giving themselves (so to speak) yet another suffering final: against Monza e Lecce, to stay with recent news, things had gone well, while yesterday they didn't. Just bad luck and chance or something more? Just Tale this time, despite the defense that started automatically, he was not free from criticism and, perhaps, from responsibility. From the management of Stanislav Lobotka, thrown into the fray with a bad ankle and then immediately forced to raise the white flag, wasting a slot for substitutions, with the unfortunate (to say the least) entrance of Philip Billing, inserted to provide cover on high balls but then ended up becoming almost an obstacle for his defenders, in addition to the timing of some moves considered late: in the bad evening of the Napoli no one is saved. Not even Tale. The good thing is, however - and it's not a small thing - that the Azzurri, although stunned, are still masters of their own destiny. The joker has been played, and not even in the most feared match and on the most propitious occasion, but it is not (yet?) the time for defeatism: just as, evidently, previously it was not (yet?) the time for triumphalism, among other things a curious contradiction for a place known to most for its proverbial superstition.

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