Serie A replaced the Premier League for a day

Only two of the five major leagues do not stop for the Christmas holidays. The Premier League, as always, is plunged into a marathon of matches at this time, but this Saturday it needs a short break and Serie A alternates with the first matches of matchday 17.

Among them, the visit that the leader Atalanta will pay to Lazio, fourth in the table, 6 points behind the head, stands out. Gian Piero Gasperini’s team was launched and, after eleven consecutive wins, it is dreaming of what would be the first ‘scudetto’ in its 117-year history.

Series A

Matches on the 18th day

Saturday
15.00: Empoli-Genoa
15.00: Parma-Monza
18.00: Cagliari-Inter
20.45: Lazio-Atalanta
Sunday
12.30: Udinese-Torino
15.00: Naples-Venezia
18.00: Juventus-Fiorentina
20.45: Milan-Rome
monday
18.30: Como-Lecce
20.45: Bologna-Verona​

For now, Dea has the honorary title of winter champion within reach. Two days before the end of the first round, they have 40 points from 17 games, two ahead of Naples and three ahead of reigning champions Inter, although they have a game to play, having been suspended on December 1 against Fiorentina when Edoardo Bove fell on the playing field.

Atalanta have had a poor start to the season, with three defeats and a draw in the first four days. But since September 24 fell in Bergamo against Como by Cesc Fàbregas (2-3) and four days later they did not go beyond 1-1 when they visited Bologna, counting their league games by victories.

At the Olympic without Retegui

Now they travel to the Olympic Stadium in Rome to face a Lazio team that five days ago, just a month ago, was just a point behind then-leaders Naples. Two painful defeats, a 3-1 to Parma and especially the embarrassing 0-6 against Inter, took the team Marco Baroni to surrender the ground which it now intended to recover by defeating Atalanta.

Gasperini, who can no longer have Gianluca Scamacca Due to the beginning of the season due to a serious injury, he also lost another scorer in the following games. Mateo Retegui, Signed to cover the loss of Scamacca, he retired on Sunday in the first half of Empoli-Atalanta with a rectus femoris injury in his left leg. The Italian-Argentine striker has 12 goals and is the top scorer in Serie A tied with Marcus Thuram (Inter).

Inter, on Saturday; Naples and two classics, on Sunday

Today, Inter visits Cagliari (second from last and in the relegation zone) and two more matches are played: Empoli-Genoa and Parma-Monza. on Sunday Antonio Conte’s Naples receives Venezia, penultimate, before the two classics, Juventus-Fiorentina and Milan-Roma. Matchday 17 will be completed on Monday with the Como-Lecce and Bologna-Verona matches.

At the start of 2005, Serie A will give way to the Italian Super Cup, which will once again be held in Saudi Arabia. On January 2, the first semi-final between Inter and Atalanta will take place in Riyadh. A day later, Juventus and Milan face each other. The final will be on January 6.