Three Storylines to Watch in Serie A

Is the Juventus-Inter rivalry entering a new phase?

While it is true that Calciopoli has taken the bad blood between the two clubs to Tiger Blood level intensity, there has been a rivalry between Inter and Juventus for a much longer period of time. Beppe Marotta’s recent move to Inter has however potentially started an intriguing chapter in the history of the protagonists of the Derby d’Italia.

Marotta followed the path of Marcello Lippi and Giovanni Trapattoni, who after very successful tenures in Turin (they were the two managers to win the Champions League at Juventus) joined Inter. But his move is a bit more intriguing since rather than coaching Juventus, he was one of the people in charge of their transfer moves.

This distinction became rather interesting this week since Mauro Icardi is in the middle of a very public contract extension negotiation. The Argentine striker is of course represented by his wife Wanda Icardi, who is also an analyst on a popular TV show in Italy- during the most recent episode she stated that Inter was willing to sell Icardi to Juventus last summer but that it was the player who turned down the move.

Now I always take public quotes on transfers with a grain of salt, but in this case it’s rather interesting since you have to wonder if Wanda (who in general I think genuinely does a good job representing Icardi as demonstrated by the two contract extension she already negotiated) even considered the fact now Inter’s new CEO was at Juventus when this supposed transfer move almost happened. Not surprisingly Marotta was rather diplomatic and said that only an inquiry was made, but it will be interesting to see how this negotiation unfolds in the coming weeks.

While Marotta isn’t expected to try to convince current Juventus players (or past ones like Pogba considering that Inter typically does not do business with Raiola) to follow him at Inter, we’ll likely see him targeting players that Juventus is also pursuing starting with talented Portuguese striker Francisco Trincao and Sampdoria defender Joachim Andersen.

Should Montolivo be the new Joao Mario?

If you are an old movie buff like me then you’ll remember how exhilarating it was to see John Travolta in “Pulp Fiction”. Quentin Tarantino decided to give him a lead role in what would become one of the most successful movies of the 90s despite the fact that his career had fallen off a cliff after previously starring in blockbusters like “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease”.

In a way Luciano Spalletti was to Joao Mario what Tarantino was to Travolta, Inter’s manager brought back the Portuguese international to the starting lineup despite the fact he was outside looking in on the nerazzurri’s project when the season began. When Biglia and Bonaventura suffered significant injuries a few weeks ago, I started wondering if Gattuso would do the same with Riccardo Montolivo.

Luckily for Milan, Bakayoko’s excellent performances made the Montolivo Rebirth project into an afterthought, but now that the Chelsea owned midfielder is suspended (in addition to Kessie’) this topic came up again. In a way it would be poetic to see Montolivo make his season debut against his former team Fiorentina on Saturday, but as it stands now it looks like Gattuso will go with Mauri and Bertolacci. Personally I think this is a mistake, especially when you consider how well Ignazio Abate, another former Milan captain who was on the outside looking in, played to make up for Musacchio and Romagnoli’s absences.

What will happen next in the race for fourth place?

Milan squandered a great opportunity to open a lead in the race for the last Champions League spot when they faced Bologna last Tuesday. But after a disappointing draw the rossoneri are now witnessing a resurgent Atalanta, with an on fire Duvan Zapata, catching up to them while Roma and Lazio remain dangerous enigmas.

Lazio will look to get their first win in Serie A since early November when they face Cagliari at the Olimpico on Saturday, they’ll still be without Lucas Leiva so Simone Inzaghi will have to hope Milan Badelj finally gets going this season.

Roma will have to travel to Torino to face Juventus in a match that shouldn’t decide Eusebio Di Francesco since there’s a short turn around to mid week match after Christmas. On the bright side for Roma’s manager he should be able to count on Dzeko and De Rossi at the latest when the new year starts.