Today the Italian Super Cup is awarded: Conte reunites with the rossoblù after the latest defeat at Dall’Ara which pushed him to take a week off. Italian struggling with another final
43 days have passed since the defeat of Napoli a Bologna (2-0), the most important of the season, the one followed by Conte’s sentence «I don’t want to accompany a dead person”. After that afternoon (and the coach’s unprecedented rest days during the break) the Italian champions changed formation and won five games in a row, stalling against Sporting and Udinese, but starting again strongly against Milan. Now there is a circle to close with the same energy seen with the Rossoneri and with the electricity that the finals provide, «at the end of which, however, you only remember who won, I told my players…” explains Conte, loaded with medals, but without having won a Cup since 2018. Napoli had also lost at San Siro, but this did not prevent them from eliminating Milan in the semi-final with Neres and Hojlund.
The new structure, this 3-4-3 (or 3-4-2-1) born after the defeat of Dall’Ara due to Anguissa’s injury, has produced a more compact Napoli, more aggressive in midfield and sharper up front, a sort of fist that withdraws in the defensive phase and opens up in the counterattacks, causing even more harm: potentially – if developed with energy and physicality – seems like the best setup to block shots and respond to an opponent like Bologna, who always plays looking forward. And he is hungry: «But if he were to be hungrier than Napoli, then it would be our fault – underlines Conte with a hint of anxiety -. Bologna can lift the Cup, but they have to prove themselves better than us on the pitch and not in terms of hunger and malice. Because we have to at least equalize those, there’s no doubt about it.”
It is not clear whether Conte’s warning, who has Beukema struggling with a foot injury and should confirm the team that beat Milan, is mainly addressed to the opponents or to his own players. Perhaps more at Bologna: «Because the victory gave us enthusiasm and joy to face a match that leads to a trophy: it is a very important boost and we have recovered our energy in a season which, I repeat, is very complicated». Napoli is there: with the push on the wings Politano e Spinazzola (decisive in the two goals against the Rossoneri), but also with their speed in recomposing the 5-man defensive line, with a physical and geometric midfield, ready to use the slingshot to launch Neres and Hojlund into spaces. And leave your mark again.
Italian without limits: «They are very strong but we don’t make mistakes»
The Super Cup is there, shining in its 77 centimeters of silver. Vincenzo Italiano doesn’t touch it, he knows it’s not good, but the look says it all: the goal is to bring it home, like the Italian Cup lifted at the Olimpico in Milan’s face last May 14th. «Finals are not played but won, we must go with our heads held high, so as not to have regrets” the Bologna coach makes it clear that this evening in Riyadh he could put his trust in Dallinga as a centre-forward, keeping Immobile warm on the bench ready for any penalties, like in the semi-final against Inter. The giant Ravaglia confirmed in goal, hypnotizing the Nerazzurri from the spot on Friday. Ferguson also struggles to find a shirt alongside Pobega or Moro. Bernardeschi broke his collarbone and will be operated on tomorrow, so Orsolini is hot on the right: with his diabolical and unpredictable left foot he can cause problems for Napoli’s left flank. It will be one of the keys to the match at Al Awwal Park.
«They are Italian champions, a very strong team with very strong players, Conte is a winner from whom we can only learn, we can’t do anything wrong if we want to give another historic night to our people» adds Italiano, who aims to emulate the great Arpad Weisz, the last Bologna coach to win two trophies in one year, the Scudetto and Expo Paris in 1937. It can be done, as long as we see the rossoblù again tonight in their best version, casual and European, vertical and offensive, without awe, the one that continues to attack even if it goes down. Only in this way can the gap in values and investments compared to Napoli be filled, which has a squad worth half a billion euros, double compared to the 270 million of president Saputo’s club.
An entire city pushed Bologna. Like in Rome, nine months ago, on that night of celebration that ended with Cremonini singing his «Poetica» in the middle of the pitch, among the fans. Cult scene. There are those who have spent over a thousand euros for a day trip, just to be in the stands in Riyadh this evening. Where he will also sit Roberto Baggiothe great ex. «Roby was there for the Italian Cup final, his presence served to make us give something more and it is thanks to that victory that we are here now, we hope he will give us a hand this time too» smiles Italiano, who asks his team to be «light and carefree». Ultimately, it’s all there.
