With another international break now in the rear-view mirror, Serie A is back with a bang. On Sunday, two blockbuster encounters will have huge ramifications on both the Scudetto and the top four battle. One of which is Juventus facing Inter Milan, but our attentions are with a trip to Bergamo for Napoli.
Atalanta Hosting Napoli is a Game Not to be Missed
What Is On the Line for the Pair?
Italian football may be in dismay following the national teams’ failure to qualify for the Qatar World Cup. However, on a domestic front, a title race for the ages is keeping the flag very much aloft. Napoli and both Milan clubs are entrenched in a back-and-forth battle for the top spot with Max Allegri’s Juventus sneaking back into the picture also. Napoli currently occupy second, with the red half of Milan on course to be celebrating come the end of the season.
🔎 | @Atalanta_BC 🆚 @en_sscnapoli @Luisfmuriel09 🎩 @dries_mertens14: who will be the key player? 🪄
♥️ Muriel
𝑹𝑻 Mertens#AtalantaNapoli #SerieA💎#WeAreCalcio pic.twitter.com/DDlrH0ceSU— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) March 31, 2022
On the other end of the stick, this game is huge for Atalanta, too. Against the odds, Gian Piero Gasperini has built an extremely exciting and lovable team in Bergamo to the point where they have played Champions League football in the last few years. A plethora of injuries, which will be covered in-depth further down, has seen them fail to win games and as a result, slide down the table.
Atalanta’s poor form, combined with the under-the-radar resurgence of the Bianconeri, means that the former could be set to miss out on the top four. Juve are fourth at the time of writing with eight points separating them from both Atalanta and Jose Mourinho’s Roma. Atalanta boast a game in hand which will see them host Juve’s city rivals, Torino. Could Il Toro do their bitter enemies a favour there?
How Have Injuries Hindered Both Teams?
As previously mentioned, injuries have blighted Atalanta massively. At times, this has been the case for Napoli too. Focusing first on La Dea though and their attacking third options have looked sparse for a while now. Key duo Duvan Zapata and Josip Ilicic are both absent and have been for a combined 28 games now. At one point, Luis Muriel was out too but the diminutive Colombian is back in contention and as a result, has a lot of pressure on his shoulders.
One player that seemingly hasn’t felt the pressure thus far is teenage sensation, Moustapha Cisse. The Guinean has a fascinating and heart-warming story that has seen him go from a refugee to a Serie A goalscorer. Cisse, at just 18, signed for Atalanta just a month ago and in his professional debut, he made all the difference. He entered the game against Bologna as a substitute with the score at 0-0, Cisse netted the only goal of the game and as they say, the rest is history.
Four weeks ago, Moustapha Cissé was playing in the eighth tier of Italian football for ASD Rinascita Refugees – a club for players seeking asylum.
Last night, Moustapha made his debut for Atalanta.
And, 15 minutes after coming on, he scored their winner.pic.twitter.com/aNTl6PoiXN
— MUNDIAL (@MundialMag) March 21, 2022
Going back to Naples and Luciano Spalletti has experienced similar issues throughout this campaign. Currently, the only two important players for Napoli that are sidelined are fullback Giovanni Di Lorenzo and shot-stopper Alex Meret. Key forwards Victor Osimhen, Lorenzo Insigne and Chucky Lozano have all been injured too this term, along with spine players Andre Zambo-Anguissa and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Osimhen is the one to talk about in truth as on top of injury and an unsuccessful AFCON tournament, he will now miss this huge clash with Atalanta due to suspension. Both the Nigerian superstar and Amir Rrahmani won’t feature for Napoli in this one.
Will Napoli Prevail in This Nail-Biting Title Race?
One of the three teams embroiled in this title race is of course Inter, the defending champions. Antonio Conte, Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi may have moved to pastures new in the summer, but the Nerazzurri haven’t skipped a beat. Simone Inzaghi was an underrated coach during his time with Lazio in the Eternal City and he is now getting his flowers since taking over in Milan.
Conte voted coach of the year by his peers in Italy after winning the Scudetto with Inter. Receives the prestigious Golden Bench (Panchina d’Oro) for the fourth time in his career. https://t.co/gZhLinhflE
— James Horncastle (@JamesHorncastle) March 31, 2022
So there is the team to beat Inter, the current leaders Milan, and then Napoli. They pushed Juventus the closest in their untouchable streak, under the stewardship of Maurizio Sarri that was. Now under Spalletti, Napoli are just as easy on the eye and have a mixed bag when it comes to the run-in. One would hope that Spezia and Empoli would be routine victories but they are both still perhaps looking over their shoulder at the drop-zone. Beyond that, Napoli will face Fiorentina and Roma amongst others and so will have to have their wits about them if they are to return to the summit of Italian football.
Napoli have won just two Serie A titles in their time and both came when they were graced by the presence of the iconic Diego Maradona. Their stadium is now aptly named after the legend so what better time to get back to winning ways in domestic football. It promises to be a fascinating match between Napoli and Atalanta at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia with both sides having lofty ambitions in mind.
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