A date for the diary: the first weekend in January. Roma and Juventus are scheduled to meet then, when Serie A resumes after its winter break. As matters stand, it looms as the most significant fixture for command of the title race.
These are still relatively early days, but after 12 rounds a small trench has opened between the leading pair in the table and the rest. Scars have been inflicted, too, and frailties exposed.
Notably at Napoli, placed third, where over the next eight days, Rafa Benitez, the energetic Spanish strategist, has much to ponder.
His team’s 3-0 defeat at Juventus, coupled with their 2-0 loss at Roma last month, showed a Napoli featuring several major squad changes from the group who finished runners-up last May. They have aspects of their game still to finesse.
“Juventus are favourites to win the title,” said Benitez, through slightly gritted teeth. “They have the strongest squad and about €100 million [Dh491.8m] more to spend on players than we do.”
The fact that each of Juve’s goals were scored by footballers who among them cost Juve under €1m may not nullify Benitez’s estimate, but it would make him a little envious of Juve’s market dexterity.
Fernando Llorente, who gave Juve the lead after less than two minutes, and Andrea Pirlo, who confounded Pepe Reina with a direct free kick, were free transfer acquisitions, and the compensation paid to Manchester United last year to gain Paul Pogba, responsible for a brilliant long-range effort, was about three per cent of his current €30m valuation.
Benitez would envy Roma’s position, too. They remain top, although after a second successive draw are above Juve by only a point.
Roma had as busy a transfer summer as Napoli but have no interest in European club competitions. That may have aided the settling-in process and the remarkable 10-game winning streak with which they embarked on the season.
A team dropping a mere four points out of 36 might normally expect a more comfortable cushion at the top. But the hot breath of Juve, the defending champions, is on Roman necks now.
Rudi Garcia, the Roma coach, like Benitez, has strong reasons to acknowledge Juve’s superior strength in depth. His team led Sassuolo 1-0 deep into injury time on Sunday, conceding an equaliser to Domenico Berardi.
That is the same Berardi who became a Juventus player in September, part of a co-ownership deal that allowed Sassuolo to use his services this season.
His late goal made both his employers very happy.
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