Only Inter Milan and Roma lost points at the top of the standings, during which two derbies were played: the Derby della Capitale (between Roma and Lazio) and the Derby d'Italia (between Juventus and Inter). Here's what happened during the last Serie A round...
MATCH OF THE WEEK - ATALANTA 1-2 NAPOLI
It was the most exciting match of the weekend, also because the first in the standings played against the second, Luciano Spalletti's Napoli (perhaps the most fit and strongest team in Europe right now) and Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta, a team that this year has shown that it has changed its skin, playing in a less aggressive and offensive way and more in an orderly fashion.
The Nerazzurri from Bergamo had taken the lead, with the goal from a penalty scored by the usual (unstoppable) Ademola Lookman, but after a few minutes Napoli managed to shorten the distance immediately through Victor Osimhen, probably among the most difficult strikers to stop right now.
Ten minutes from the end of the first half, Spalletti's boys managed to score a second goal, via Elif Elmas, a player on the pitch to replace the injured Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Napoli managed to win even without the Georgian, proving once again they deserve the first place in the standings.
Now Osimhen and his teammates have six points more than second-place Milan and have confirmed themselves as the main contenders for the Scudetto.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK - OLIVIER GIROUD
Someone had described him as "old", as "finished", as a "good second striker", but Olivier Giroud is proving once again (having won practically every trophy in his career, including the Champions League), at the age of 36 years, what it means to be a true champion.
Humility, talent, seriousness, professionalism, winning mentality, the incredible joy after a goal: Giroud showed all of this against Spezia, after winning everywhere and after scoring for the greatest European teams. Scoring the winning goal (a scissor kick) on Saturday night he took off his shirt to celebrate, forgetting that he was booked, so he was sent off by the referee with a red card.
Up to now, between Serie A and the Champions League, the French striker has scored 9 goals and produced 4 assists for his teammates: really important statistics, especially considering his age. He keeps scoring and continues to prove that he's a player of another level, even at 36. A model for every professional.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK - DANIEL MALDINI
He had played a bad joke on his father Paolo, who on Saturday evening took his place in the stands, in the role of AC Milan manager as always.
The Rossoneri managed to bring home the three points, thanks to the goal from the reliable Olivier Giroud, but despite the expectations the matter had become enormously complicated for Stefano Pioli and his men.
Theo Hernandez (he's playing very well) put his team ahead with a beautiful goal (almost as if he was a midfielder), but the young Maldini found the equaliser with a nice shot, which left no chance for the Rossoneri goalkeeper. Just a few days earlier Daniel had said: "Maybe it's true that I'm achieving this because of my surname, but in this case I never noticed it".
Against his dad's team, against the team he grew up in and which is still his, even on a contractual level, he showed his talent. The road to do even half of that done by people who bear that incredible surname is very long, but he doesn't have to think about this, he has to play freely, showing what he can do. With the goal against Milan, Daniel Maldini showed himself and his story is just beginning.
TALKING POINT - TOO MANY INJURIES
There is no peace for the coaches. It does not only concern the Italian championship, of course, but the Italian teams in recent weeks are seeing their stars drop one after the other, from Paulo Dybala in the last weeks to Romelu Lukaku, but also Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Pellegrini, all top players who for the excessive number of matches are coming to a stop due to muscle injuries.
The last in order of time is the captain of Roma, who during the derby (won 0-1 by Lazio thanks to the error of Roger Ibanez which led to Felipe Anderson's goal) stopped for a muscle problem, having played several games ignoring pain and discomfort for the sake of the team.
Many coaches are complaining these days about this aspect. In a week the survivors will leave with their national teams to play for the World Cup, a competition that every player wants to play, but it is a fact: playing every three days has created many problems for the teams and the standings are inevitably affected. There are only two games left, after which we will return to thinking about the national championships only in January.
And perhaps it will be possible to start managing the players again according to the coach's ideas and not according to the needs caused by all these injuries.
