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Napoli shines again ahead of Juve tie

April 21, 2018
Napoli’s players celebrate their win over Udinese in the Italian Serie A soccer match at San Paolo Stadium in Naples Thursday. — EPA
Napoli’s players celebrate their win over Udinese in the Italian Serie A soccer match at San Paolo Stadium in Naples Thursday. — EPA

FLORENCE, Italy — The only major European league with anything resembling a genuine title race reaches a potentially decisive moment Sunday when leader Juventus and second-placed Napoli clash with four points separating them in Serie A.

Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Paris St Germain have all won their respective leagues with several games to spare while Barcelona is runaway leader in La Liga, leaving Serie A as the only real contest among the top five championships.

Even in Italy, however, a Juventus win would give it a seven-point lead with four matches to play, putting it on the brink of a seventh successive title.

A Napoli win, on the other hand, would throw the cat among the pigeons, especially as Juventus appear to have the more difficult run-in.

Napoli is the neutrals’ favorite, partly because it is outsider and partly because of its adventurous style and the passing moves it weaves through the opposition midfield.

The side had begun to look stale recently and scored only four goals in five matches before Wednesday’s game against Udinese when a 4-2 win convinced Maurizio Sarri that his team has rediscovered its spark.

“I’m happy because I’ve seen the team play well and they are shining again,” he said.

“We are a team whose philosophy is always to try and impose our style of play and we will try to do that in Turin as well,” he added.

“Of course, it will clearly be difficult against a strong team, in a very tough stadium, and they have one of the most complete teams in Europe. But we won’t change our philosophy.”

The chain-smoking coach has said he is not losing any sleep over Juventus and that Napoli had already achieved its main target for the season by qualifying for the Champions League.

“You must be mad if you think I go to bed every night thinking about Juventus,” he said.

After Sunday, Juventus still have tough matches away to Inter Milan and AS Roma and two straightforward-looking home games against Bologna and Verona.

Napoli’s trickiest match is away to Fiorentina and it also faces Sampdoria away and Torino and Crotone at home.

Juventus at one point on Wednesday looked as if it was going to go nine points clear as it led 1-0 at Crotone, before being held 1-1, while Napoli trailed Udinese before winning.

But Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri was unflustered.

“A month and a half ago, I’d have happily taken a four-point advantage,” he said. “There are so many matches to play and Sunday will be a fantastic challenge.”

He also dismissed any suggestion that striker Gonzalo Higuain looked tired against Crotone.

“Everyone will be up to the challenge on Sunday,” he said. “I’m not worried. We know that if we win, we will be closer to the title and we have to fight for this.” — Reuters


April 21, 2018
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