James Mcghie takes his weekly look at the stand-out moments in the latest round of Serie A action

Milan v Napoli is the game of the season so far.

 

When the league resumed from the winter shutdown, fans of both Milan and Napoli would have glanced at this fixture with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. At the San Siro, Milan have already taken the scalp of champions Juventus earlier in the season and, even with the duo of Locatelli and Romagnoli missing through suspension, they would have been confident of going toe to toe with the Partenopei.

 

Napoli on the other hand have had something of a patchy away record this season; defeats at the hands of Atalanta and Juventus and draws at Pescara, Genoa and most recently Fiorentina. So whilst near invincible at the intimidating Stadio San Paolo, many Napoli fans would have been somewhat anxious in the build up to this one, although they would have hopefully clung to the memory of last season's corresponding fixture, when Lorenzo Insigne inspired Napoli to a 4-0 win; helping himself to two goals and setting up another.

 

So that's the teams, but what of the setting? The San Siro was made for nights like this as it heaved with a near capacity crowd and, regardless of allegiance, there are few greater sights in Italian football than a packed out San Siro; even watching on TV, it was like a nod to the glory days when greats such as van Basten, Gullit, Boban, Savecievic, Donadoni, and Maldini formed part of their respective Rossoneri sides.

 

When the game kicked off however, it couldn't have gone much worse for the home side as Napoli immediately settled and set about their fast, one touch passing game which truth be told, had Milan chasing shadows at times. Jorginho, having won back possession allowed Allan to drive forward from the edge of his box and drill a wonderful pass out wide right to Mertens who almost immediately played a cross field pass to Lorenzo Insigne who'd made up ground on the left side. 

 

Napoli's talismanic number 24 took a single touch with his right before striding to the edge of the penalty area and unleashing a left foot rocket high past Donnarumma, and Napoli were ahead. Just two minutes later it was 2-0 as Jorginho found Mertens on the left side again with a lovely ball over the top, but the Belgian still had a lot to as Gomez came out to track him. With a drop of the shoulder, Mertens had created the space and no-one in red & black tracked the late run of Jose Callejon who somehow beat Donnarumma from the tightest of angles.

 

A huge roar erupted to greet both goals, and neutrals could be forgiven for thinking this game was being played in Naples; the blistering start so eerily reminiscent of those that befall both Torino and Inter at the San Paolo.

 

In what was a fantastically open first half hour, Napoli should have added a third as Mertens weakly fired straight at Donnarumma when played clean through on 28 minutes, but Milan finally had their first attempt on goal on 34 minutes when Gomez somehow headed wide from an inch perfect Bonaventua cross. Rossoneri fans didn't have long to wait though, and it was slack play from Jorginho in the Napoli midfield that allowed Juraj Kucka to go through on goal and neatly finish past Pepe Reina with the outside of the boot, and from that moment Milan took control for the remainder of the half. There would be no more goals in the game, but in terms of entertainment it didn't let up and, while it made for nervous viewing for many Napoli fans, it was an utterly fantastic advertisement for the Italian game.

 

At a time when many are keen to label various leagues as, "The best in the world" and with Serie A slowly but surely shaking off its age old (and undeserved in my opinion) tag of being a, "Boring league". Games like this, when aired out with Italy, make you hope people are watching. It was open, it was end to end, it had Milan's great pressing game against Napoli's one touch counter attacking football and I'm sure the neutrals out there could have easily watched another hour.

 

I'm not suggesting that this match was a turning point for Italian football, it wasn't; it was simply the very best game so far in a season of a league which in recent years has turned up the entertainment value and, most of all, is full of very talented, promising young Italian players who are given their stage to shine. Long may it continue.

 

 

Crotone, Palermo, and Pescara; numbers 18, 19, and 20 in the Serie A table and if we're being honest, that's exactly where they're likely to finish come May. Despite all being on near identical points, Crotone and Palermo on 10 and Pescara on nine, week after week they seem to match one another's results in defeat.

 

In fact, since returning from the winter break, the bottom three have mustered just two draws between them, losing the rest and scoring a combined total of 6 goals and conceding 18. However a look just one place further up the table sits Empoli in 17th place, normally a nervous and anxious position as you duck and dodge the relegation zone with those in it.

 

Not this season, as Empoli, despite only scoring twelve league goals this season find themselves a whopping 11 points ahead of 18th placed Crotone, who do have a game in hand albeit against top of the table Juventus.

 

While anything can happen in football, it seems that these three sides are doomed to tumble down into Serie B come May without as much as a whimper. So often the term "battle" is used to describe the relegation zone and those in or around it; yet at this stage of the season it feels more like a sorry air of acceptance. 

 

 

Not long ago, on these very pages in fact, I wrote that Torino were possible contenders for a Champions League spot this season. Thanks to the form of Andrea Bellotti and the loan signing of Joe Hart, Torino had genuine quality at both ends of the pitch and shrugged off a mixed opening to the campaign that saw them pick up just one win, two defeats and two draws, to winning six of their next nine as they raced up the standings.

 

Their one defeat in this period came at the hands of Inter at the San Siro which, at that time, helped draw the nerazzuri to within a single point of the Turin side as their own struggles continued under then coach Frank de Boer; Mauro Icardi scoring his first goal in four matches after his much publicised fall out with the clubs Ultras following his controversial book launch.

 

Fast forward to the present, and Torino have not won a league game since returning from the winter break. Meanwhile Inter, the only team to beat Torino during that run, continued their impressive resurgence under Stefano Pioli and now sit nine points ahead of Torino, something which when looking at both clubs when they played one another back in October, was unthinkable.

 

 

It's been a mixed January for Atalanta fans. Since returning from the winter break they've picked up six of a possible nine points, defeating Chievo and Sampdoria while losing narrowly to Lazio, keeping up their image as the surprise package of the Serie A season so far. And yet, on the other hand, there may be a justified feeling of frustration as the bigger clubs in Italy's top division start to dismantle their promising young squad. 

 

Franck Kessie may be away on international duty, but La Dea have already lost goalkeeper Marco Sportiello and midfielder Roberto Gagliardini to Fiorentina and Inter respectively and, while loaned back to them until June 2018 they have also sold Mattia Caldara to Juventus. 

 

It's testament to the youth policy in Bergamo, one which I've praised on these pages in the past, that they have players coming through that don't just attract attention, but more importantly who they attract the attention of. And with the deals for Caldara and Giagliardini potentially raising to €53m (€28m and €25m respectively), Atalanta are certainly cash rich right now and in no rush to sell anyone else; however this doesn't stop interest from bigger clubs unsettling players and persuading them to go. 

 

Many would have rightly thought that without Kessie, without Gagliardini, and without their undisputed number one goalkeeper that Atalanta would crumble, and yet here they are, still defying the odds, still our surprise package, still the fairytale of the season, and still churning out top talent after top talent, which takes us nicely onto ...

 

 

The proverbial conveyor belt of talent coming from Bergamo shows no sign of slowing down, with Atalanta handing a first team debut to talented 17 year of defender, Alessandro Bastoni.

 

Born on April 13th 1999, Bastoni played the full 90 minutes and gained plaudits across social media with many observers saying the young centre back strolled his first Serie A appearance and a very respectable match rating of 7.7 on WhoScored.com would back this up.

 

With two aerial duels and two key tackles won, as well as a total of five interceptions made, the youngster has certainly captured the eye of many and is one to watch for the future; yet another name to add to the ever growing list of talented young Italians gracing Serie A.