Rome (AFP)

From Sassuolo to Turin, 103 days later. Interrupted in March by the coronavirus, the Italian Championship resumes this weekend with four late matches including Torino-Parma to start, and uncertain statuses, especially for Juventus, weakened as rarely.

Where did we stay? On March 9, Sassuolo beat Brescia 3-0 and striker Francesco Caputo, author of a double, sent a worried comforting message to Italy: "Andrà tutto bene. Restate a casa" ("Everything will be fine, stay at the House").

Things did not go as well as that and the virus killed more than 34,000 people on the Peninsula, which lived two months of very strict confinement. But the leaders of calcio have stayed the course in the face of a government initially very reserved regarding the resumption of competitions.

Calendar, plans B and C in the event of a new interruption, health protocol, quarantine: one by one, the difficulties have been resolved and Serie A therefore resumes on Saturday, behind closed doors - for now - and with an insane calendar, which will take players to the field twice a week.

"Football is not only an important industry. It also makes people happy and its return is a hope for everyone," said former Italian great midfielder Demetrio Albertini, now a technical manager at the federation. .

"It will be a championship that will look a bit like a World Cup or a Euro," he added, referring to the matches played every three days in the heat of the Italian summer.

- Lazio dreams of it -

After the four late matches disputed on Saturday and Sunday, it will already be time to continue on Monday with the 27th day, which will allow us to learn more about the states of form of each other.

The most mysterious case is that of the leader, Juventus. The Italian Cup resumed before the championship and the bianconeri played two games without scoring a single goal: 0-0 in the semifinal return against AC Milan and 0-0 still in the final against Naples, for a defeat on penalties.

Both times Cristiano Ronaldo appeared far from his best form. He was not the only one and the Juve season is starting to be wobbly: defeats in Cup and Super Cup, knockout round of the Champions League against Lyon (1-0 defeat in the first leg) and only one point ahead of Lazio Rome in Serie A.

Pressure is high on Maurizio Sarri, the Turin coach, and Lazio is ready to seize this historic opportunity.

The Romans developed the best football in Italy before the break and stayed on an impressive streak of 16 wins and two draws. What dream of the scudetto, a rarity in the history of the club, which won only two, in 1974 and 2000.

The influential President Claudio Lotito therefore did everything to get the championship back to the point that his spokesperson, Arturo Diaconale, jokingly presented him as the "best virologist in Italy".

Juventus-Lazio, scheduled for July 20 during the 34th day, should in any case weigh very heavy.

- Atalanta for Bergamo -

Behind the two leaders, Inter Milan (3rd) seems a bit off the hook. But if they win their late match against Sampdoria Genoa on Sunday, Antonio Conte's team will come back six points behind the Turinese and five behind the Romans.

For the last place in C1, Atalanta Bergamo (4th) is better placed than AS Rome (5th) with three points ahead and an additional match to be played on Saturday against Sassuolo.

But how will the Bergamasques react to this health crisis which hit their city even more violently than the rest of the country?

"These players are very close to Bergamo, the city and the supporters. I will tell them about emotion. I will tell them that Bergamo has suffered a lot and that it is now up to us to make it smile again," warned the coach Gian Piero Gasperini, interviewed by the Guardian.

There will also be fights for the Europa League and to avoid relegation. There will be painful memories and injuries, but also expected returns, such as those of Franck Ribéry at Fiorentina or Nicolo Zaniolo at Roma.

There will be Ronaldo, Lukaku, Lautaro, Dybala, Milinkovic-Savic, Dzeko and the others. One hundred and three days later, Serie A returns.

© 2020 AFP