Week 20 of the Serie A championship is behind us and James McGhie picks out five stand-out performances from the weekend
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Icardi leads the way as focus falls on those around him:

 

Mauro Icardi is having the season of his life. After a summer which saw him the subject of a failed move to Napoli and manage the fallout of a disastrous book launch that almost ended with him being chased out of Milan, Icardi has come roaring back and is currently the striker to beat in Serie A.

 

While much of the focus seems to be on the exploits of Dries Mertens, Andrea Belotti, Edin Dzeko, and Gonzalo Higuain, the nerazzurri frontman has helped spearhead coach Stefano Piolo's weekly assault on the Serie A table and as a result, Inter now find themselves in 6th place just a point behind their city rivals (albeit Milan have a game in hand), and just five points behind Napoli who currently occupy 3rd place and the final Champions League place.

 

Icardi has been instrumental, with 15 goals to his name this season; an average of one every 120 minutes. In fact, when you set aside his goal scoring record and look purely at his assists, you get a bigger picture of just what Icardi brings to this Inter side; he doesn't just score goals, he creates them for others, and with 7 assists this season he is only one behind arguably the most creative and consistent player in Serie A, Jose Callejon. 

 

Bringing the focus back to Icardi's goalscoring, it's remarkable to think that with the 15 goals he has already this season, he has drawn level with Inter legend, Diego Milito; and in 17 fewer games too. When you factor into this that Icardi is just 23 years of age, it's a remarkable feat and in this kind of form it would be no surprise to see him finish the season as winner of the Capocannoniere. 

 

 

Sunday evening saw Juventus travel to Tuscany to take on a Fiorentina side still unbeaten at the Artemio Franchi this season; the Bianconeri adding their name to the long list of unsuccessful visitors as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat.

 

With the gap between Juventus and Roma cut to just a single point, and Napoli just a further three points back, the pressure is now on Max Allegri's side, although they do have the luxury of a game in hand. Fiorentina laid the foundations for their win with a fantastic, hardworking first half display in which they outplayed and outfought the defending champions; with 61% possession to 39% and eight attempts on goal to four as they took a 1-0 lead into the interval.

 

Ironically though, it was Fiorentina's second goal which seemed to awaken Juventus from their slumber and spark panic and uncertainty amongst the hosts. If Serie A has a dubious goals panel, then it may well be needed to ascertain if Federico Chiesa did indeed get the faintest of touches to send the ball beyond his fathers'(Enrico) former team-mate, but Juventus replied almost immediately through Gonzalo Higuain to drag the Turin side straight back into the game.

 

While Kalinic tried his best to continue the high press which Fiorentina had enforced so effectively in the first half, those behind him fell deeper and deeper which allowed Juventus to control possession and, for the first time in the game, they looked more like themselves. 

 

And so it was somewhat ironic that as the pressure mounted and the clock ran down, their Argentine magician, Paulo Dybala skipped through several challenges to burst clean through only to blaze wildly over the bar. As the ball sailed high and wide, so with it went Juventus' chances of a point and the game was lost.

 

While the bianconeri remain strong favourites to retain their title, they are certainly more vulnerable this season than last. The Old Lady have already conceded 16 goals in Serie A compared to just 20 in the whole of last season and with trips to both the Olimpico and San Paolo still to come, have lost four games compared to five in their entire previous campaign. Whatever your allegiances, it has all the makings of a fantastic second half of the season.

 

 

Having made his big money move from Atalanta, one of many players who could move on from Bergamo in this window, Inter fans were excited to see just how their new boy would fare in his San Siro debut. 

 

Reports have the deal for Gagliardini at somewhere around the €28m mark, with an initial two- year loan deal and obligation to buy. Remarkable, considering the player only made his Serie A debut last year and had made just 16 top flight appearances for Atalanta. Gagliardini spent previous seasons on loan to Serie B sides Cesena, Spezia, and Vicenza making a total of 49 appearances between the three.

 

In his first outing for his new club, Gagliardini had a debut to remember, and was unlucky not to score with a header which was well saved by visiting goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino. Playing the full 90 minutes, Gagliardini impressed with a passing accuracy of 86.2%, making 65 passes. Offensively he created 2 opportunities for team mates and had 3 attempts on goal, slotting seamlessly into the side.

 

Much has been made of such a high price tag for a young Italian player, but as others have alluded to, with a player like this you can pay more in the way of transfer fees by saving on the lower wages that younger players command. It's a catch 22 as many fans demand their teams have more Italian players, but then balk at the high transfer fees asked for them. Gagliardini has shown, thus far, that he's money well spent. As a fan of the Italian game it's great to see so many talented young Italians coming through, and long may it continue.

 

 

There's an old adage here in the UK that you'll wait ages for a bus and then two turn up at once; which could be used to perfectly describe Napoli centre back, Lorenzo Tonelli. After waiting 6 months to make his debut, Tonelli has now played, and scored, in successive weekends at the San Paolo.

 

In a fairytale debut against Sampdoria, Tonelli expertly timed his run to connect perfectly with an Ivan Strinic cut back and score the winning goal deep into stoppage time that led to Decibel Bellini conducting the San Paolo crowd in a rendition of his name; what a way to announce your arrival to the Partenopei.

 

Having sat out the 3-1 Coppa Italia win over Spezia, Tonelli was reinstated to the centre of Napoli's defence for the visit of Pescara and, after a dull first half where Napoli laboured and created just 5 chances on goal (3 on target), it was the likeable big defender who broke the deadlock just two minutes after the restart.

 

In a fantastic show of solidarity, Tonelli wheeled away to celebrate with fellow centre back and substitute Nikola Maksimovic, dispelling the myth that there is any form of rivalry between the players; many Napoli fans will remember a similar celebration took place between Mertens and Insigne earlier in the season when the latter was on the bench and some outside of the club tried to paint a picture of unrest.

 

And so, going back to that old adage, yes it's frustrating when those two buses turn up at once, but you're extremely grateful that they did; and I'm sure Napoli fans feel the exact same way about Tonelli.

 

 

Cagliari striker Marco Borriello may be in the twilight of his career, but the 34 year old striker shows no sign of slowing down. His brace in his sides 4-1 win over former club Genoa took his Serie A tally for the season to nine, five more than his total last season at Atalanta, albeit he has played almost twice as many minutes in this campaign (1,338 to 850). 

 

Borriello is no stranger to Serie A fans, with a much travelled career that has given him a CV that reads like the who's who of Italian football; Roma, Sampdoria, Milan, Juventus, Genoa and even a brief stint in the English Premier League with West Ham United back in 2013/14; the striker seeing just 88 minutes of playing time via two appearances. Before this season, Borriello's best campaign was back in 2012/13 when he scored 12 goals for Genoa, making 28 appearances and playing 2,345 minutes on loan from Roma. 

 

In fact, as obvious as it sounds, consistency has been key for Borriello, with the current campaign being the most playing time he has seen since that fruitful season at the Luigi Ferraris; Borriello's combined playing time for Genoa in 2012/13 and presently for Cagliari stands at 3,683, which is 1,311 more than the 2,372 Serie A minutes he managed at his last four Serie A clubs (Roma twice, Genoa in a permanent move, Carpi, and Atalanta).

 

As he approaches his 35th birthday in the summer, perhaps it's time for Borriello to settle down and enjoy the twilight of his career, especially if the current campaign continues in the same vain.