Napoli remounted and eliminated, Inter, Juventus and Atalanta in playoffs
Napoli out, Inter Milan, Juventus and Atalanta in the playoffs: these, in a nutshell, are the verdicts concerning the Italian sides involved in Champions League football after the matches on the last day of the single round of the first phase. The Azzurri, who knew they were taking a big risk, were defeated 3-2 by Chelsea after overturning the guest’s initial lead. Pointless victory for the Nerazzurri in Dortmund, a scoreless draw for the Bianconeri, and defeat in Belgium to Union St.Gilloise for the Orobici.
At the Maradona, Chelsea took the lead already after a quarter of an hour thanks to a penalty from Enzo Fernandez but Antonio Conte’s men did not give up and turned it all around within ten minutes, first with Vergara and then with Hojlund on an assist from Olivera just moments before halftime. In the second half, however, the result changed again, with a double from Joao Pedro on as many assists from substitute Palmer. The Brazilian at once dragged the Englishmen straight to the round of 16 and eliminated the champions d’Italia.
In Dortmund, Inter cradled direct qualification to the round of 16 but in the end, as predictable, was mocked by the results that came from the other fields and in particular from the one in Naples. A Dimarco’s free kick deceived the Nerazzurri who were not even satisfied with a 2-0 win by young Diouf in the final to move beyond tenth place in the standings. The potential playoff rivals will now be Benfica or Bodo/Glimt, in the round of 16 there’s then the risk of Mancher City.
In the other matches, Juventus did not go beyond a 0-0 draw at home to Monaco: of note in the first half was a goal disallowed to Balogun. The Bianconeri in the second half did not damn their souls and the result did not change: at the play-offs they will have to contend with Bruges or Galatasaray.
L’Atalanta finally lost 1-0 on the field of Union St. Gilloise: the entries of Scamacca, Sulemana and De Ketelaere, were not enough. At 70′, Khalaili beat an uncertain Sportiello and condemned the Nerazzurri to 15th place: they will challenge Borussia Dortmund or Olympiacos.
