Napoli still sit top of Serie A after the latest round of action in the Italian top flight.
Luciano Spalletti’s side are unbeaten and have dropped just four points in their opening 10 games, but they are still being chased hard by AC Milan and Atalanta, who both sit two points behind.
Further down the table, there was an important derby win for Juventus, their first victory away from home all season.
Sportsmail’s Alvise Cagnazzo takes a look at 10 things we learned from this weekend’s action in Italy.
Napoli remain unbeaten at the top of Serie A having dropped just four points in 10 games
THERE IS NOT ONLY ONE MILINKOVIC-SAVIC
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic is no longer just the brother of sergeant Sergej as he has become one of the most reliable goalkeepers in Serie A.
Despite defeat in the derby against Juventus at the weekend, the Serbian giant has shown that he can be a protagonist with Torino by winning them several points. Ivan Juric has finally found his number one and can think about the future with greater serenity.
The keeper’s instinct on Dusan Vlahovic’s venomous shot and his super save to deny Manuel Locatelli made his performance exceptional, prompting comparisons with Wojciech Szczensy. Torino fans are starting to appreciate it and have forgotten some past mistakes from the 25-year-old.
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had an excellent game against Juventus despite Torino losing 1-0
Perhaps he will not become an idol on the same lines as Luca Bucci but the bearded goalkeeper is slowly entering Torino fans hearts and has won over the manager.
Milinkovic-Savic has ample room for improvement and the possibility of playing as a regular will certainly help him to grow, and Torino can be his ideal springboard.
KEAN MISSES OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE HIS CHANCE
Juventus’ important victory against Torino will not erase all the ills of the season and their first away win of the season does not improve the judgment on Moise Kean.
The striker, who is on loan from Everton until June 2023, missed a sensational chance to relaunch his career in Torino and reconciled him with the Juventus fans, who showered him with deafening whistles even when he was subbed off.
Despite the confidence of Massimiliano Allegri, who left Arkadiusz Milik on the bench, Kean has failed yet another opportunity in his career which until now has seen him shine only briefly at Paris Saint-Germain.
He is technically very poor and gives the impression he is not a hard worker during the weekly training sessions.
22-year-old Mosie Kean is yet to score from nine Serie A appearances this season
His technical level has worsened and it seems he has not yet understood that he is at the biggest crossroads in his career.
You do not need to be a wizard to predict the forward’s future: these will be Kean’s last months in Juventus and his future will take a sharp turn at the end of the current campaign.
The first player born this century to score in Italy is going through the most negative moment of his career and needs a new adventure to get going again.
LAUTARO MARTINEZ IS THE NEW PRINCE OF MILAN
With 62 goals in Serie A – the same number as Prince Diego Milito, who in Milan is considered a symbol of recent winning history – Lautaro Martinez has entered the hearts of fans and is beginning to enjoy the best form of his career.
Mauro Icardi with his 111 goals is very far away but Martinez could reach his tally. Inter want to transform Martinez into the heir of Javier Zanetti by offering fans a new flag to wave in the happy and unhappy moments of the club’s future.
Lautaro Martinez is in wonderful form and could become an icon for Inter Milan fans
Martinez is the only irreplaceable striker in Inter. Without Romelu Lukaku, the Argentine striker has learned to be more selfish and not sacrifice his football style to appease his attacking partner.
The Belgian striker may struggle to find his way back into the starting XI.
SASSUOLO RICH IN THE BANK AND POOR ON THE PITCH
Twelve goals scored and 12 goals conceded with 12 points in the standings.
Sassuolo’s situation is not worrying yet, but without technical improvements the team could fall down the league fast and face a relegation battle.
Sassuolo are fairly well placed in the table but appear to be struggling as a team
Defeat against Atalanta shows how Sassuolo had too busy a summer.
The biggest problem is that Sassuolo have not managed to improve the quality of their team and in the last 24 months, they have lost the likes of Gianluca Scamacca and found no viable replacement.
Sassuolo have rightly chosen to continue the growth path by picking young players but up to now they have reaped much less than club has sown also due to the few stars present in the team.
ZIRKZEE IS ON FIRE
The Dutch forward who grew up in Bayern Munich scored in the first minute of his first real test. Joshua Zirkzee has already proven to be a good striker and has generated a lot of excitement in Bologna, who are still very shaken by the dismissal of Sinisa Mihajlovic.
21-year-old Dutch forward Joshua Zirkee has made a real impact since arriving from Bayern
Convincing Bayern Munich to sell him took £7.8 million in cash plus 35% on a future resale. Initially Bologna thought he could become the ideal partner for Marco Arnautovic but today he is considered a genuine number nine.
Napoli were too strong an opponent for Bologna but the pleasant discovery of Zirkzee will allow the club to look forward to their next matches with more optimism. After Zirkzee’s failure in Parma, Bologna is perhaps the last great opportunity for ‘Big Joshua’ to be able to return to being a protagonist at a European club.
Bologna is a magical city in which great forwards of the past such as Andersson, Roberto Baggio, Giuseppe Signori and Marco Di Vaio have been reborn – now it’s up to the 6ft 4in centre forward, who was initially chosen by Bayern as Robert Lewandowski’s heir, to try to conquer space and popularity in Serie A.
TONALI IS THE MILAN MAN
With Oliver Giroud injured, Milan discovered they have a great and charismatic leader capable of scoring decisive goals in Sandro Tonali.
Stefano Pioli had prepared a substitution to replace Tonali with Junior Messias, but the former Brescia playmaker managed to score the decisive goal of the match, allowing Milan not to lose precious points in the standings.
Sandro Tonali stepped up for AC Milan in the absence of more experienced goalscorers
Tonali scored his first goal of the season in Verona, once again winning the man of the match, just as he did earlier this year where his two decisive goals on May 8 secured the Scudetto.
Without Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the pitch and with Divock Origi and Giroud not yet in 100% physical shape due to some minor physical discomfort, it was Tonali’s turn to decide the game with a precise winning goal. The young midfielder is the most charismatic player in the side and from the first minutes of the match he fought for every ball, winning many duels in midfield.
In a tense match, AC Milan’s number eight was the difference between his side and Verona.
SERIA A: ‘VICARIO FROM WHICH PLANET DO YOU COME FROM?’
Serie A published a very nice tweet that read: ‘Guglielmo Vicario, which planet are you from?’.
The Empoli goalkeeper is the best response Italian football has to the generational crisis that is hitting Serie A hard. Vicario has cat-like reflexes and the recklessness that characterises every young goalkeeper, and his career could take off thanks to the extraordinary saves he is making in Empoli.
Goalkeeper Gugliemo Vicario impressed for Empoli in their 1-0 win over Monza
All goalkeepers born in Italy in the past were synonymous with technical and professional guarantee but today behind Gianluigi Donnarumma there is a desert of uncertainties.
With the exception of Alex Meret of Napoli, most teams are picking overseas goalkeepers. Empoli’s victory over Monza came because of a great performance of the young goalkeeper who is attracting the attention of top Italian clubs.
Today Juventus, Inter, Roma and Milan have three foreign starting goalkeepers and this is a clear message on the crisis of the role in Italy.
NO CIRO IMMOBILE NO PARTY
When Lazio lost Ciro Immobile to injury they suffered a sort of emotional stop that short-circuited the perfect machine driven by Maurizio Sarri.
Immobile’s injury, which saw him leave the pitch with a few tears on his face, is the most evident sign of the problems Lazio face having not brought in a new striker over the summer.
Lazio could only manage a 0-0 draw with Udinese at the weekend in the absence of Immobile
If he does not play Immobile, Sarri is forced to invent Matteo Cancellieri or Pedro as central strikers. Udinese were attentive and compact, especially in defense, successfully managing to frustrate Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico, confirming how balanced Serie A is this season.
Lazio at the moment are suffering too much from the excessive tactics of Sarri, who is trying to transform the wingers he has into a centre-forwards without achieving great results.
SALERNITANA BOSS NICOLA COULD BE SACKED BY NOVEMBER
What happened to the ‘Cenerentola’ of Salerno? President Danilo Iervolino and coach Davide Nicola continue to suffer in Serie A and, despite the presence of Boulaye Dia and Krzysztof Piątek, Salernitana have many problems in attack.
Salernitana look as though they are in real trouble and have won just two out of ten games
From the two goals conceded against Inter, a fragile defensive line was exposed as Pasquale Mazzocchi seems to have lost the clarity of the beginning of the year that had led to his call-up from the Italian national team.
Krzysztof Piątek is a very strong and stubborn player but at the moment he is unable to offer the usual contribution in the penalty area, and now Nicola will have to look for new solutions to revive the ambitions of Salernitana fans who are afraid to observe the collapse of their team.
The next matches before the stop for the World Cup in Qatar will be fundamental to understand what the future of Nicola will be. The coach of Salernitana’s miracle seems to already be finished.
Former Leicester and Fulham winger Ademola Lookman has scored four goals in ten games
LOOKMAN SHOWING WHAT LEICESTER ARE MISSING
Ademola Lookman scored his third goal in four matches and pushed the ghost of Jeremie Boga further and further away, the winger who should have dominated in Giampiero Gasperini’s tactical system and who now risks being sold in the January transfer window.
The winger is a great marathon runner who runs for 90 minutes and scores with disconcerting regularity.
Everton, Fulham and Leicester let this player leave too soon, and he has proved so useful in Atalanta’s fast-aced football that today he hopes to to join one of the top four Italian teams.
In 10 games he has already scored more goals than in a year in Fulham and is just two away from the six scored last year at Leicester. The boy who dreams of becoming Babangida’s heir today is the unexpected leader of Atalanta.
