Pragmatic Juventus still have wide margins for improvement
Long forgotten about and allowed to decline by successive governments, de Magistris said Matteo Renzi, the Italian Prime Minister, “has to go around with a metal detector surrounded by 1000s of [body guards]” when he visits Naples. “Like Higuain…” While de Magistris held Renzi personally responsible for not doing anything to stop the continued decline of the quarter adjacent to Fuorigrotta, home to the Stadio San Paolo, he was in no doubt who had committed the greater treachery. “Higuain’s betrayal is worse,” he insisted.
Asked if the striker would ever be allowed to walk the city’s streets again, de Magistris was unequivocal. “I don’t think so.” This is not the first time a politician has played to the gallery but then nor does it necessarily paint an inaccurate picture of the depth of feeling in Naples after Higuain’s €90m move to Juventus in the summer.
One supporter set his blue No.9 shirt alight when the news broke. Another flushed his down the loo. Then there was the story of the fan who got a tattoo of the bicycle kick Higuain scored against Frosinone to complete a famous hat-trick on the final day of last season; famous because it was his 36th goal of the campaign and broke the 66-year-old single-season scoring record in Serie A. Moved by his plight, a Neapolitan tattoo removal specialist offered to make it disappear for free.
Not for the first time Napoli owner Aurelio de Laurentiis played the victim. Poor old DeLa cheated on once again, first by Walter Mazzarri, who left for Inter, and now Higuain for the Old Lady. That he lashed out wasn’t at all surprising. Of more interest was just how keenly this trauma had affected the team because it has largely remained hidden. Two-nil down in Pescara at half-time on opening night, the hot-take was that Napoli hadn’t moved on.
Captain Marek Hamsik admitted that watching Higuain score on his debut for Juventus against Fiorentina the previous evening had “a certain effect.” Quizzed on his emotions before last night’s reunion at the J Stadium with his former Capocannoniere, he confessed it is still “strange” to see him in black and white. But the notion that Higuain’s decision turned friends into enemies at the flick of a switch was dismissed. Things remain more than cordial with Napoli's Spanish players, Hamsik and Dries Mertens. Clearly they are not prepared to allow this to get between them. “We hear from each other every now and again,” Hamsik conceded bashfully. “My son has asked me to make sure I get Gonzalo’s shirt after the game.” It seems unlikely Hamsik junior will be taking a match to it.
Sarri also held no grudge. Questioned on how he would greet Gonzalo when they bumped each other on Saturday, he said: “Like a son who angered his father.” The anger doesn’t last long and when it passes, a relationship that’s closer than that between mentor and protege remains. They embraced before kick off and it wasn’t a simple courtesy to be got out the way. It was heartfelt. The mutual respect and affection was obvious, even if as Higuain pulled out of training on Thursday, he told a Juventus fan he hoped to score a brace at the weekend.
With no one anticipating a handshake controversy, the focus turned to whether Higuain would celebrate or not if he found the back of the net against his former club. Leonardo Bonucci didn’t think it should even be a matter of debate. “He should celebrate… I wouldn’t see anything wrong with it.” Not until after Bonucci got to do his own - wash your mouth out - celebration though.
A big game player if ever there was one, he gave Juventus the lead with a finish that showcased the technique, power and coordination we expect from a striker of Higuain’s class, not a centre-back. It clocked 104.18km p/h and was reminiscent of the one he buried in the Derby d’Italia at the J Stadium last season because, just as on that occasion when Danilo d’Ambrosio headed a clearance across goal and watched in despair as it flew towards Bonucci at the far post, so this time around Faouzi Ghoulam inadvertently set up his opponent to smash in another volley.
Napoli, to their credit, reacted brilliantly and got themselves level with an old classic within five minutes of going behind. We’ve all seen it before; a Lorenzo Insigne cross to Jose Callejon at the far post. It’s to Serie A what Arjen Robben cutting inside on his left is to the Bundesliga; Predictable and nevertheless unstoppable. Of Callejon’s seven goals this season, four have been assisted by Insigne who reacted with incredulity to being taken off shortly afterwards. “I’m fine,” he repeated. Sarri did not appreciate his reaction. “There have been games this season where he has been disappointing and yet I didn’t say anything about it. He should keep his mouth shut. If he’s got something to say he should wait until tomorrow and knock on my door.”
After shading the play in the first half, Napoli now even had Juventus captain Gigi Buffon worried that they were the more likely to go on win. Napoli spread panic with a couple of well-executed corners. On the eve of the match, this was highlighted as scenario on which the game might turn, as Napoli have scored five this season while Juve have conceded three. But then it happened. The moment Juventus fans were hoping for and Napoli’s feared. Higuain played a ball over the top for a midfield runner, Sami Khedira. Napoli didn’t deal with it. Another Ghoulam clearance gifted Juventus another goal on their 118th birthday. Allan could have closed down the loose ball but didn’t react as quickly as Higuain, who rifled a shot past Pepe Reina.
The crowd went wild and as they did Higuain gestured to them to keep it down. He didn’t celebrate. The goal ensured he joined an exclusive club. Higuain became only the third player to score against Juventus as a Napoli player and vice-versa. Just like Jose Altafini in 1975, the original Core ‘ngrato his was the clincher in 2-1 win. A shot through the heart, it killed the game. You couldn’t tell from Higuain’s expression, but Allegri insisted he suppressed his emotions. “Gonzalo was happy on the inside,” he said. “And he shouldn’t feel that scoring a goal makes him a traitor.”
While Callejon has been just as prolific as Higuain this season, his former teammate’s decider laid bare what they’re missing. Mertens has done better than expected as a False Nine but, as Lele Adani put it on Sky Italia, he is the substitute of the substitute [Gabbiadini] of the substitute [Arkadiusz Milik] for Higuain and Napoli should have done everything possible to bring in another centre-forward in the summer. The lack of size and physicality of Napoli’s piccoletti in attack contrasted with the giants in Juventus’ defence. “You can’t buy [your existing players the gift of] physicality. There are pills you can take for it but they’re not legal,” Sarri joked.
The bright spots for Napoli were that they generally played well and weren’t as timid as when they lost here in February. “Juventus had two chances and they came from our mistakes,” Sarri lamented. “On average they give up 1.7 chances a game. We had four and they were the more clear cut… If you lose the best striker in the world and recruit [kids] for the future it means you are not competitive at the highest level.” One of those kids, Amadou Diawara, played like a veteran and, regardless of Sarri’s criticism of Napoli’s transfer strategy, his display must be taken as another positive from Saturday night. The negative is Napoli are now seven points behind Juventus who were far from perfect and still have wide margins for improvement.
Allegri’s ‘who dares wins’ approach was once again rewarded. Throwing Juan Cuadrado on for the injured Giorgio Chiellini at half-time and moving to a three and a half defence with Stephane Lichtsteiner sometimes playing as a centre-back, sometimes as a full-back, was a statement of intent.
It was Juve’s mentality that made the difference rather than their style. Unlike Napoli’s build-up play which comes so natural to them, Juventus’ remains slow and mechanical, at least in Claudio Marchisio’s absence and it’s no coincidence that they started to play better after his introduction in the second half. In fact, their winner came just two minutes later. For now, Miralem Pjanic still looks lost but once he begins to play to the level he did at Roma last year - matching Paul Pogba for assists [12] - and the team gels, heaven help the rest of Serie A. Sarri’s realism won’t have gone down well in Naples, but the answer he gave a journalist who asked whether the outcome of this title decider was worrying to him spoke volumes. “It’s worrying you consider it a title decider,” he said.
@JamesHorncaslte
