Naples-Rome LIVE And Atalanta-Empoli LIVE on the pitch at 6pm on Sunday 28 April for the 34th matchday of Serie A
THE PROGRAM
THE RANKING
EVE
Zielinski stops and Calzona to face Roma will probably have to resort to Traorè who is the natural replacement for the Pole. On Saturday the Azzurri had to undertake a round trip by bus to reach the Castel Volturno technical center from the hotel in Caserta where they are training. New tour de force for a final leg kick before the match against the Giallorossi which is scheduled at the ‘Maradona’ starting at 6pm. Zielinski has undergone treatment for a low-grade injury to the medial gastrocnemius of the left leg which occurred in yesterday’s training . Treatments also for Gollini who suffered a shoulder problem during training in recent days. Both will not be called up and will watch the match against Roma from the stands tomorrow. Today’s training consisted of a small match on a small pitch with the session ending with tactical technical work. Calzona is focusing a lot on the tactical aspect. The coach insistently asks his players to be very focused especially on the defensive phase. The distractions that have followed one another in recent times have cost many goals and the negative results depended on this which led Napoli to have to frantically chase their opponents in this championship finale to try to grab a place in one of the next European competitions year. The lineup that will face Roma is practically done. Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus and Mario Rui will play in front of Meret in defense. In midfield the coach will field Anguissa, Lobotka and Traorè. Politano, Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia will play in attack. For the owners, however, it will be the last useful call to convince the coach. If their performance were once again disappointing in the last four championship matches there could be a real revolution which could be accompanied by a punitive withdrawal until the end of the championship.
Just under a month until the end of the season to confirm the comeback established with De Rossi on the bench. Because if the championship ended today, Roma would be fifth and therefore in the Champions League, but there are still five championship matches ahead of them plus two Europa League matches which everyone in Trigoria hopes will become three with the final in Dublin. “I started three months ago and if they had told me that we would be fifth, four points behind Atalanta and six from Lazio I would have signed up knowing where we were starting from”, De Rossi’s words on the eve of the match against Napoli. The first of a tour de force which will then see the Giallorossi face in order: Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, the Germans again and Atalanta. The future, as well as the season, of the club is played out in these five matches. Starting with Maradona where, according to De Rossi, at least in terms of squad values, there is the only team “close to the strength of Inter despite having had some more difficulties this year”. The Roma coach, then, doesn’t want distractions after the success in Udine. “A victory that helps, but we must not feel relaxed – said the coach – We have rekindled the Champions League race making it something possible, but the finish line is still difficult if we look at the calendar”. In fact, between now and the match against Atalanta on the weekend of May 12th, there will all be direct clashes with just a few days to prepare, but De Rossi’s imperative is “let’s not feel sorry for ourselves”. Meanwhile, there were four absences against Napoli, those of Lukaku and Smalling due to injury (they will try to recover for Thursday) and finally those of Paredes and Llorente due to disqualification. N’Dicka is back among the squad. “Evan is fine, he trained and made me understand that he feels fit. He is not afraid of tackles and is back as a 100% player. He and Mancini will have a good duel with Osimhen” – explained De Rossi, thus also announcing the ownership of the Ivorian. In the starting eleven, then, there will also be Bove who will take the place of the suspended Paredes, while up front the trident should be the one made up of Dybala, Abraham and El Shaarawy. “The Tammy-Azmoun solution seen in Udine is interesting and repeatable in moments in which you have to score goals at all costs”, statements, those of De Rossi, which suggest a relay for the two attackers, with the Englishman from the start and the Iranian ready to enter the race. Dybala’s playing time was also studied and, with the match against Bayer a few days later, it cannot be ninety minutes.
“The energy to be recovered is more nervous than physical, but the enthusiasm of the people makes us recover more quickly.” Thus Gian Piero Gasperini on the eve of the Atalanta match hosting Empoli: “We must take momentum from the two cup qualifiers. if I have to make a wish I would prefer not to lose players. We tried Scalvini and Kolasinac, but we had excellent feedback – remarked the Nerazzurri coach –. Kolasinac is back in the group: his arrival has raised the level of the defense: a great strike from D’Amico, he was out of contract with Marseille, the most expensive signings are not necessarily more decisive.” On the opponent, praise goes to his colleague Davide Nicola: “I respect him a lot, I remember with pleasure the 2017 bike ride with him for the sensational salvation of Crotone. He is repeating in Empoli how much good he did in Salerno. A spin these days always causes problems for everyone – explains Gasperini -. He has an organized team, we will have to give an excellent performance. Let’s remember the burn against Verona at home, we won 2-0 and it ended in a draw. Two heavy points left by the wayside, we can’t afford it anymore.” Gasperini rules out major physical problems excluding Toloi and Holm: “For the second, recovery will be slower, the soleus of the calf is delicate. In defense there is Palomino who hasn’t been part of the squad for weeks and doesn’t train anymore, it was a shame: he would have had the chance to still be useful. It expires in June. Bonfanti? Training and playing with the Under 23s in C is not so reliable.”
Empoli coach Davide Nicola presents the match against Atalanta. The coach first explains the characteristics of the opponent: “The identity that they have managed to carry forward in recent years. They have such a vast squad that they can afford the luxury of changing even four players. I believe that Atalanta has become a point of reference for all those who love football in a In a certain way, however, I like to focus on my team and the capabilities it must have. I am interested in my team demonstrating that it can be competitive, we are at a point where you cannot make calculations. . At the end of the championship Nicola doesn’t want to look beyond the match of the day: “We need to pay attention to the individual match, beyond the opponent we’re going to face. It’s clear that opponents of this kind make you have to improve further on many points of view However, I won’t move on to the next week because I have to check this one first. You have to leave the field with the belief that you have given everything.” Empoli who in the period coached by Nicola proved to be the second best defense in the championship: “The defensive concept for us is a team one, we don’t just train the defense because the defensive aspect starts from the first line of pressure which is that of the attackers. We work overall and then stimulate individually. We didn’t focus exclusively on the defensive part, but we tried to increase aggression and have the taste for immediate ball recovery. Sometimes we do it better, sometimes less, and we insist on this. Just as we insist on the offensive part, because when you recover the ball you must be able to create conditions. We work on this every day, perfection will never arrive but the ability to repeat behaviors are the prerequisites for performing better at team and individual level.” . A team that comes from excellent results: here’s what it will take to face this Atalanta according to the Empoli coach: “To also equalize what they will put on the field in terms of dynamism. It’s one of the few teams that has had a clear identity for a long time The ability to manage the game, understand what to do when you have the ball at your feet.”
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