While for some teams the moment of verdict has already arrived, such as Napoli and Sampdoria, the former having won the championship and the latter having mathematically gone down to Serie B, for others the moment of truth is just around the corner. Let's see what happened in the latest round of Serie A...
PLAYER OF THE WEEK - VICTOR OSIMHEN
In all likelihood he was the most important and decisive player in Napoli's Scudetto ride. The Nigerian striker was the team's top scorer, the leader and the player who dragged the group toward a goal chased for more than 30 years.
In Sunday's match against Fiorentina, which Luciano Spalletti's team played as champions of Italy having achieved mathematical success on Thursday against Udinese, it was Victor again who scored the winning goal.
First he missed a penalty, then on his second attempt he made no mistake and did what he does best: score a goal. The stadium erupted with joy for the umpteenth time this season: 23 times the striker has sent the ball into the net in the league alone, also leading the Serie A top scorer list. He will be able to chase personal records in these final days of the season as he looks forward to a summer having led a team and its people to success and eternal glory.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK - THEO HERNANDEZ
In a crucial match for the race for the fourth place, French left-back Theo Hernandez scored an incredible goal, after an assist from Mike Maignan (simply a pass with his hands), starting from his defence and arriving near Lazio's area to explode an unstoppable shot. A perfect execution, which burned Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who had tried to tackle or slow him down in the middle of the field to prevent him from reaching the goal defended by Ivan Provedel.
It was three fundamental points for Stefano Pioli and his team. Theo seems to be in good shape and this is the best possible news for Pioli, because few players can be as decisive as he is and having him at the top in this delicate moment is the best thing for the Rossonero. Much of the remainder of the big season games will come through him, as it often does.
MOMENT OF THE WEEK - SAMPDORIA RELEGATED TO SERIE B
It ended on Monday, for now of course, Sampdoria's Serie A experience. The Dejan Stankovic-coached team also lost to Udinese, 2-0 (Roberto Pereyra and Adam Masina the scorers), and so the standings now leave no escape: next year Sampdoria will play in Serie B.
This is certainly not earth-shattering news, since this result had been in the air for months; it was probably already understood in the first part of the season, when Manolo Gabbiadini and his teammates had scored too few points to have hopes of a complicated and miraculous comeback in the standings.
Stankovic often appealed to the heart and pride of the players, but in football when seasons start badly, they can often only end worse. And so it was: to no avail were the good deals made in January during the market window, Stankovic failed to straighten out Sampdoria's year. Indeed, even he was forced to surrender to the team's many, perhaps too many, problems, on and off the field.
Next year they will start again, with the goal of returning to Serie A immediately, without wasting too much time in a minor league, but better planning will surely be needed.
COACH OF THE WEEK - SIMONE INZAGHI
He is the man of the moment. Inter are in the final of the Coppa Italia, in the semifinals of the Champions League, and are currently firmly in fourth place in the standings, with two important wins in their last matches against Lazio and Roma, two direct competitors for a place in the top four.
The three points also came on Saturday at Roma's home, with goals from Fede Dimarco and Romelu Lukaku, who has not looked this good in a very long time, also taking advantage of Leo Spinazzola and Roger Ibanez's mistakes, which paved the way for Inter's victory.
A few weeks ago, Inzaghi's position seemed at risk, indeed, he almost seemed destined for dismissal, but instead the former Lazio coach managed to get the season back on track and even steer it toward a possible dream ending. He seemed to have lost control of the group and the locker room, instead he handled every difficult moment brilliantly. Bravo Simone!
