TEAM OF THE WEEK - ATALANTA
By now Atalanta only knows how to win. Everyone thought their season had come to an end after winning and celebrating on the streets of Bergamo the Europa League. Roma even hoped that they could lose against Torino on Sunday, but things went in a completely different way.
Gianluca Scamacca, Ademola Lookman and Mario Pasalic scored a goal each to secure another victory and to concretely aim for third place in the standings, now occupied by Juventus. Gian Piero Gasperini has made something unforgettable and his bond with Bergamo is stronger than ever. So much so that he chose to refuse once more Aurelio De Laurentiis' offer to be Napoli's coach. These days it's always more difficult to see coaches (almost at the end of their careers, probably) saying "no'' to richer offers, the possibility of working with stronger players (such as Kvara or Victor Osimhen, for example, even if they could be sold on the market), than to stay at home and to make history with a "smaller" club.
Of course nowadays Atalanta is one of the most important teams in Italy, but money- (and size) wise Napoli is on a completely different level. In the end, De Laurentiis chose to sign Antonio Conte...
Anyway, back to Atalanta: incredible performance, a show of strength almost unbelievable at this time of the season. Other teams were losing points, they kept winning, laying new foundations for an even brighter future. Impressive work, nothing more to say. Bravo Gasp!
MOMENT OF THE WEEK - NIANG'S GOAL
In an incredible turn of events, Frosinone, Empoli and Udinese's destinies changed in the blink of an eye. With one match to play, Empoli seemed destined for Serie B, with Frosinone having a match at home against Udinese with the chance to win against its direct contenders: 90 minutes, a lot of stories to tell and experience, but in the end it was Empoli's turn to celebrate.
Empoli took the lead first, a mistake by Roma's defense caused Matteo Cancellieri's goal, the Giallorossi equalised thanks to Houssem Aouar, despite offering a not entirely positive performance (unfortunately not the first time this year). The match seemed headed towards 1-1, but on the other pitch first there was Udinese's goal against Frosinone, scored by Keinan Davis, then, seconds before the final whistle, came M'Baye Niang's strike that sent an entire city to heaven.
In Frosinone, Matias Soul and his team hit the post on several occasions, but sometimes it simply is not your night and things must go a certain way. Roma did not play their best game, to put it mildly, on the one hand understandable because there were no more goals to achieve for them. On the other hand it was still something to avoid, because you always have to give it your all.
Daniele De Rossi at the end of the game was angry with the attitude of his team, while in a completely different mood was Davide Nicola, who succeeded for the umpteenth time in a real miracle, keeping the Tuscan club in Serie A, another mission impossible made possible. The city exploded with joy and all the credit goes to Nicola, although the decisive goal, the one that made the whole city scream, was Niang's.
SURPRISE OF THE WEEK - NAPOLI v LECCE
Imagine going from winning the Scudetto in a dominated league to tenth place in the standings? Tenth place in the standings, which means being out of Europe next season, not even in the Conference League. From the Champions League to the couch at home: the story of Napoli should be told to future generations to make them understand how a team that just won the championship should not be managed.
First came Rudi Garcia, who was practically never made to feel trusted, then was called Walter Mazzarri, a choice still unexplained. Then it was even the turn of Francesco Calzona, already committed to a national team and in any case clearly not equipped to put a seemingly cursed season back on its feet, at least not in these conditions.
Napoli only needed to win the last one against Lecce to go to Europe, not to drop from first to tenth place in the standings. But on Sunday there was no way and the ball never entered the net. Antonio Conte will have to work a lot ahead of him and it'll be very hard to erase this difficult, dismal, anonymous season, but paradoxically the absence of European competitions might help him. This year of Napoli, however, needs to be forgotten quickly.