After a 52-day break which felt like it lasted a lifetime, Serie A football finally got back up and running this week – and it did so in style.
With the Qatar World Cup over and the Christmas and New Year period complete, Italy’s top flight returned in a bumper round of midweek fixtures on Wednesday, which conjured up a total of 22 goals across 10 matches.
Sportsmail’s ALVISE CAGNAZZO has pulled out the biggest talking points from Serie A’s first week back as the league’s biggest stars picked up where they left off.
The Serie A season finally got back up and running on Wednesday after a 52-day break
Ochoa gets off to flyer despite opening defeat
His Serie A debut could have gone better, but Guillermo Ochoa still made a string of terrific saves in Salernitana’s 2-1 defeat against champions AC Milan.
The 37-year-old goalkeeper, who impressed at the World Cup for Mexico once more in Qatar, got his career in Italian football underway by replacing the injured Luigi Sepe in between the sticks and he will have hopes of becoming a Serie A regular for a long time.
The saves he made from Theo Hernandez, Brahim Diaz, Olivier Giroud and Charles De Ketelaere in particular were excellent and helped limit the damage in Salernitana’s first outing of 2023.
Ochoa failed to make an impact during his previous stints in Belgium and France with Standard Liege and Marseille, but over in Italy he is keen to rebuild his reputation after being granted one last great opportunity by Salernitana.
Guillermo Ochoa made a great start to his Serie A career despite Salernitana’s defeat
The Mexican goalkeeper was on hand with a number of top saves in their 2-1 loss against Milan
President Danilo Lervolino made history by giving Serie A its first ever Mexican goalkeeper and in June the two parties will hold talks over a potential extension of Ochoa’s six-month deal.
Salernitana is in excellent hands, but to get better results and climb up the Serie A table they need to improve the team’s defensive work.
Leao is BACK
The minute’s silence for Pele at Stadio Arechi was a moving moment, and shortly after Rafael Leao paid the perfect tribute to him by netting a superb goal which restarted the Milan engine in their first game back.
Immediately focused, immediately decisive and with a killer instinct in his first match of 2023, Leao is the star who Milan must try to tie down to a contract renewal as soon as possible.
Rafael Leao showcased his quality once again by opening the scoring in Milan’s victory
In 12 months time the Portugal striker will be free to decide his future and Stefano Pioli must do everything in his power to convince him to stay, with Manchester City and Chelsea both circling.
Leao’s goal 10 minutes into the clash with Salernitana paved the way for a Milan victory and rebuilt the enthusiasm around a team that had disappointed in winter friendlies without their players involved in the World Cup.
Sandro Tonali’s second goal also came from his spectacular run on the left wing, confirming how Leao has become a crucial player both in front of goal and in teeing up his colleagues.
Leao sent Milan on their way as they resumed their Serie A campaign by taking three points
How is Milik only worth £6m?
Can someone as good as Arkadiusz Milik only cost £6m? The Juventus striker is one of the best players Serie A has to offer but his market value remains extremely low.
Two serious knee injuries limited his rise, though Milik’s price tag is still well below his real technical value, with five goals in 13 games signalling the rebirth of a player who at 28 can still be decisive despite his recent exile in France after the diplomatic quarrels with Napoli.
Milik is an outstanding player both as a centre-forward and second striker and single-handedly took on Cremonese’s defence in 75 minutes of Juve’s 1-0 victory.
Moise Kean’s inclusion in attack freed up space for the ex-Napoli star, who fired home the winner with a perfect and precise shot that flew past Marco Carnesecchi.
Arkadiusz Milik is only worth £6million but his performance levels outweigh that market value
After having no luck for the best part of an hour, Milik managed to make the decisive contribution at the worst moment of this game, proving himself a match-winner.
Juventus’ seventh straight win bears his signature and draws new hierarchies in their attack. It will now be difficult to demote Milik to the bench when Dusan Vlahovic returns, while Massimiliano Allegri will have to find a new role for Federico Chiesa.
Colombo sinks Lazio
Four shots, two goals. That was all it took for Lecce to take three vital points against Lazio, lift themselves from the lower end of the table and reignite Lorenzo Colombo’s purple patch.
The young striker, who is owned by Milan, is the most pleasant surprise of 2023 so far, with his strike handing Lecce a shock win and demonstrating how Marco Baroni’s team have developed the stubbornness and cynicism required to survive in Serie A.
Milan have been on the hunt for a forward under the age of 25 for some time and Colombo could be the right man to add to the experience of Giroud and Ante Rebic at the end of the year.
Lorenzo Colombo (right) helped Lecce produce a shock victory over Lazio on Wednesday
Young, Italian and followed closely by Roberto Mancini, who wants to build a new-look Azzurri side packed with fresh talent, Colombo has all the characteristics to become one of the best number nines in the country.
A return of four goals and two assists in 14 games is excellent for a player considered irreplaceable by Baroni. Lecce’s hopes of salvation will depend highly on his goals.
Mourinho has changed Roma’s personality
With another manager in charge Roma would probably have dropped points against Bologna on Wednesday. Yet Jose Mourinho has built a team which reflects his image and manages to silently dominate and win matches without being spectacular.
Lorenzo Pellegrini’s penalty changed the game and handed Roma a 1-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico to keep their top-four pursuit alive.
Jose Mourinho has moulded Roma to grind out wins without performing spectacularly
Lorenzo Pellegrini’s penalty handed them a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bologna
Mourinho continues to believe in a technical system with Chris Smalling at the heart of the defence despite his expiring contract, while he is still trying to find a harmony between Nicolo Zaniolo and Paulo Dybala, who lined up together in attack before picking up respective injuries.
The Special One showed his courage by dropping Rick Karsdorp and entrusting Mehmet Zeki at right-back, while also promoting Benjamin Tahirovic in midfield.
Bologna’s 600 passes were sterile on the night, with Roma’s fewer tally of 380 passes proving enough to clinch all three points.
Tammy Abraham’s goal-line clearance in the 96th minute is a symbol of Mourinho’s good fortunes in Rome and also helped his side draw level with fifth-place Lazio on 30 points.
Under a different manager, Roma would probably have dropped points in this match
Monza continue Cinderella story
Silvio Berlusconi is the most successful owner in Italian football history. His latest success story is called Monza, and the decision to entrust in Raffaele Palladino, a young coach with a mediocre playing career, demonstrates his courage and entrepreneurial ingenuity.
So far, the only error Monza have made in the transfer market was buying goalkeeper Alessio Cragno from Cagliari. All other signings sanctioned by Berlusconi have offered a high-quality contribution after settling in, raising their performance levels after Giovanni Stroppa’s dismissal.
Matteo Pessina, who helped Italy become European champions in 2021, is proving the best signing for Palladino’s team, who have finally found a tactical and technical balance after switching to a 3-5-2.
Today Monza is the Cinderella story of Italian football. The plucky team of Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani can replicate Atalanta’s previous triumphs and secure European football if they continue to collect points with extraordinary consistency.
Wednesday’s 1-1 draw away at Fiorentina was the most concrete proof of the growth in personality of a team that fights fearlessly on the pitch.
Monza chief Silvio Berlusconi is the most successful owner Italian football has ever seen
His plucky team continued their Cinderella story in Serie A by earning a draw at Fiorentina
Dzeko outshines Lukaku again
All eyes were on Romelu Lukaku, yet in the end it was Edin Dzeko who inspired Inter’s big win over Serie A leaders Napoli.
Lukaku still needs minutes to get back up to speed physically, but Dzeko is an elegant and slender striker in form, meaning he came up trumps with the game’s decisive goal.
His header opened up the race for the Scudetto and inflicted Napoli’s first defeat of the season after 16 games.
At 36, Dzeko is still an irreplaceable player for Simone Inzaghi, with a return of seven goals in 16 Serie A games and three goals in six Champions League appearances showing exactly why.
Edin Dzeko outshone Romelu Lukaku once again by scoring Inter’s winner against Napoli
All eyes were on Lukaku but the Chelsea striker still needs minutes to improve physically
Last season he played 36 games in Serie A, scoring 13 goals and providing 5 assists, though his extraordinary stats this term could see him record one of the best seasons of his career. Like good Italian wine, the more Dzeko ages the more his performances improve, and for this reason his expiring contract should be renewed for at least another 12 months.
The former Manchester City star is capable of playing with Joaquin Correa, Lautaro Marinez and Lukaku without distorting the quality of his own performances and this characteristic is considered fundamental by managing director Inter Marotta.
Unhappy New Year for Napoli
After a remarkable end to 2022, Napoli suffered defeat in their first big match of the New Year against Inter. A crushing defeat that saw an unrecognisable Gli Azzurri team creak at the San Siro.
Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia failed to live up to the expectations of Luciano Spalletti, who tried to change the outcome of the game with a number of changes.
Victor Osimhen endured a miserable evening as Napoli slumped to defeat against their rivals
Kvaratskhelia never managed to worry Inter’s defence. The Georgian star was lacklustre, resembling a match blown away by a strong wind, which is probably a result of persistent physical problems. Osimhen, meanwhile, was thwarted by Nicolo Barella’s pressing and Alessandro Bastoni’s physical strength, touching the ball on few occasions without ever being dangerous in Inter’s penalty area.
Spalletti’s men failed to cope with Inter’s aggressiveness, so much so they almost appeared to be suffering from an inferiority complex. Now they are set for a difficult second half of the season which could be tough to manage psychologically given Milan and Juve’s victories.
Over the next month Napoli must try to take as many points as possible while keeping their rivals at arm’s length, but above all they need Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia to get back to their best.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia also wasn’t at his best at the San Siro amid his physical problems
Atalanta nightmare
After suffering for 76 minutes and shipping two goals against a team bidding to avoid relegation, it is still abundantly clear that Atalanta have big technical and tactical problems that they can’t ignore in any way.
Spezia missed a great opportunity to beat them and give themselves breathing space from the dreaded relegation zone. However, Atalanta are suffering from a lack of focus which could dent their chances of securing a place in Europe.
In Italy and Bergamo the feeling is that Gian Piero Gasperini’s time in charge of Atalanta is coming to an end. They somehow failed to claim three points here despite recording 19 shots and 66 per cent ball possession, meaning they have dropped down to seventh after Roma’s win over Bologna.
It is still abundantly clear that Atalanta have big technical and tactical problems right now
In Bergamo the feeling is that Gian Piero Gasperini’s time in charge is coming to an end
Gasperini tweaked his team after acknowledging they were in a moment of difficulty, changes which inspired a late fight back thanks to goals from Rasmus Hojlund and Mario Pasalic.
Duvan Zapata, meanwhile, is a ghost on the pitch right now and no one seems to understand what has happened to the Colombian’s killer instinct. Against Spezia he appeared tired and confused, to the point of becoming Atalanta’s weak point.
They must now switch their focus to the next match against Bologna and return to winning ways to avoid being sucked into a negative period.
Paredes shows the best and worst of himself
Winning the World Cup with Argentina last month doesn’t seem to have fixed Leandro Paredes’ volatile form at club level.
The South American star was brought on in Juve’s win over Cremonese to give Fabio Miretti some much-needed rest, but on the whole he failed to grasp another opportunity to boost his chances of a permanent transfer at the end of the season.
Winning the World Cup with Argentina has not fixed Leandro Paredes’ volatile form for Juve
At times, Paredes looks like a tourist walking the streets of Italy and not a player capable of changing the pace and intensity in Juventus’ midfield.
Though after misplacing two key passes and almost costing Juve, in the last five minutes the Argentina star turned things around to help them manage the match superbly, meaning his intelligence could be useful in the second half of the season.
Unlike Weston McKennie, Paredes can play in all midfield positions and this versatility could earn him many appearances between now and the end of the season. However, both his concentration and fitness levels must remain very high for that to be the case.
