Seven days ago it felt like a conviction; today, almost an acquittal. It took Italian football just one week to go from four defeats to four wins in the Champions League. First, heads down all round; now, heads held high.
Watch every Serie BKT match live with LaB Channel on OneFootball: subscribe for just €9.99 a month!
Roma, Napoli, Como and Inter returned to winning ways in different styles. Some cruised, some nearly threw it all away, some did something special, and some chose to suffer. In total, thirteen goals scored.A figure that just seven days ago would have sounded almost like a taunt.
🧨 Como and Inter: two contrasting victories
Manchester United came to Como, a team no longer what they once were but whose name still commands attention, especially in a setting as "small" as the Sinigaglia. Como paid no heed.
Four goals, Nico Paz starring with a brace and an assist, Fabregas watching from the bench as his team proved they stay true to themselves regardless of the opposition. Changing without losing their identity: they learned how last year and are still doing it.
Inter, meanwhile, took a route more familiar to Italy and less familiar to themselves. The narrow, arduous one that often still gets you where you need to go. Against Shakhtar, Carlos Augusto's goal was enough for a 1-0 win, despite Bastoni's sending-off. In the closing stages, Josep Martínez protected what remained of their lead.
After the match, Barella said: "Playing well is always nice, but right now we also need to finish our chances better". Chivu adapted too: he chose caution over the usual all-out assault, and yesterday, at least, it paid off.
Ultimately, it's an old Italian story. When things go wrong, you get back to basics: defend, grit your teeth, get the result. No one has ever handed back three points because they were won without elegance.
💥 Napoli and Roma: four goals apiece, but with different significance
Roma did what they had to do. Four goals against Slovan Bratislava, who had already conceded nine in the opening two matchdays. Gasperini went into the game without Dybala, Koné and Svilar, but hardly anyone noticed.
The Giallorossi had 73% possession and 26 shots to one. Slovan looked less like opponents and more like guests who had wandered into the wrong place.
In Naples, meanwhile, there was entertainment followed by anxiety. Bodø/Glimt were swept aside in the first half, with Politano scoring after just a minute and McTominay reminding everyone how much he had been missed. The Scot scored twice, De Bruyne supplied quality (albeit from deeper than he would like), and Allegri saw—and perhaps asked for—something different.
Seventeen shots, compared with eleven against Villarreal and five against Arsenal. Perhaps Allegri is looking for a more attacking Napoli.
The problem was that, while the goals were going in up front, at the back they kept giving chances away, partly because Bodø are now an established force in Europe. Fifteen shots faced, three goals conceded. The final 4-3 scoreline left that strange feeling that comes with certain wins: the satisfaction of getting the job done and the suspicion that it could have ended differently.
🇮🇹 And amid all that, we set a record
There is, however, one statistic that risks getting lost among the results. For the first time in history, at least three Italian teams scored more than three goals in the same round of the European Cup or Champions League.
Roma, Napoli and Como. Twelve goals between them.
They are not all equal, of course. Four goals against Slovan do not carry the same weight as four against Manchester United. And scoring four against Bodø while conceding three is not entirely reassuring.
For years, Italian football nurtured the idea that caution was a virtue above all others. Meanwhile, Europe moved on, and this year Serie A is adapting. We are still experimenting, and therefore making mistakes. From four defeats to four wins: trial and error, that's how it works.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.