The Inter-Lazio and Juventus-Napoli summits attract attention in the Italian League
In the third stage of the Italian football championship, all eyes are on two heavy-duty matches, when Juventus, the defending champion, at the "Allianz Stadium", hosts the Napoli team, while Inter, the runner-up, will visit Lazio in the capital, Rome.
The match between Juventus and Napoli, which ends the stage on Sunday, brings together two former Milan teammates when Andrea Pirlo, the new coach of the "Old Lady" team, faces his counterpart in the southern team, Gennaro Gattutsu.
The two former internationals played for Milan between 2001 and 2011 and together won the European Champions League in 2003 and 2007 under coach Carlo Ancelotti, and played a pivotal role in Italy's 2006 World Cup title in Germany.
Juventus, the Italian champion in the last nine seasons, has won four points from the first two games. After he opened his season strongly against Sampdoria with three goals, he returned with a draw from Roma (2-2) thanks to a brace for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Pirlo knows that the task will not be easy for the southern leaders, who provided a perfect start to the season by beating Parma 2-0, to sweep Genoa with a clean half a dozen goals.
The match is considered a retaliation for Juventus, who fell in the Coppa Italia final last season against Napoli with a penalty shootout after the end of normal time with a goalless draw.
Each team won at home in the two matches last season in "Serie A", and Napoli hopes that the same scenario will not be repeated in the Juventus stronghold after the match was heading to a 3-3 draw before Senegalese defender Khalido Coulibaly scored a goal by mistake against his team in the 90th minute + 2 to come out the "Old Lady" team a winner.
Juventus is running in the absence of French midfielder Adrian Rabiot due to a suspension for his dismissal in front of Roma.
In the second, last season's runners-up Inter will visit Lazio at the Olympic Stadium in the capital, after scoring the full mark this season.
Inter confirmed on Wednesday that they were ready to face Lazio with a big victory over Benevento, the promoter of this season, led by another former Milan star at the head of the coaching staff, Filippo Inzaghi, 5-2 in a postponed match of the first stage.
The "Niratsuri" opened its season in the second stage with a difficult victory over its guest, Fiorentina, last Saturday, when he turned the tables, turning his 1-3 defeat into a 4-3 victory with two goals in the last three minutes of the match.
Coach Antonio Conte's team has achieved the full mark, similar to Atalanta, Naples, Hellas Verona and Milan, and is seeking to continue its scoring festivals after hitting the nets of his opponents with nine goals in the first two matches, in which Moroccan newcomer Ashraf Hakimi offers distinguished levels.
"I enjoyed watching the team play as it did tonight, with critical offensive moves," said Conte after the win over Benevento.
"We must work more on balance because we also met two goals today. But it seems that the newcomers have quickly adapted to a system that was tried and tested last season."
Inter appear to be the most prominent candidate to oust Juventus from his throne after finishing last season, trailing only an orphan point, and reaching the final of the European League "Europa League" before losing to Sevilla.
As for Lazio, who finished fourth last season, it opened its season with a 2-0 victory over Cagliari before dropping a thunderous fall at home to Atalanta 1-4 on Wednesday.
Simone Inzaghi's team is seeking to repeat its victory at home against Inter in the league last season, as it will count on scorer Ciro Immobile, owner of the European boot last season (36 goals).
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