In 2021 they celebrated the biggest title in Italian football with the Interjersey, and towards the end of this year they were able to do it again, this time with the blue of Napoli. And it would really be an extraordinary achievement, both for Lukaku and for Conte.
From the start of the season, all predictions and expectations preferred Simone Inzaghi's Inter. Yet Matteo Politano and his teammates never stopped believing.
Now they are there, fighting point by point, despite the enormous technical gap between the two teams, and a winter transfer window that only broadened that gap.
Last weekend Inter rode past Lecce thanks to goals from Marko Arnautovic, Lautaro Martinez and Yann Bisseck (the goal of Roberto Piccoli resulted in being meaningless). Napoli responded with a confident and dominant 3-0 win at Empoli. It was a match without a real story to tell, completely one -sided. Two goals came from Scott McTominay and a from Lukaku, which was also decisive on the opening goal with a brilliant backheel that opened the road to the net for the former Midfielder of Manchester United.
Mctominay a dazzler
McTominay, another player who has never played at such a consistent high level, now shines in the Serie A. He has always shown flashes of dazzling talent, but in Italy he appears to be really dominant. That could be up to two different factors: 1. Series A is not at the same level as the Premier League, something that nobody surprises. 2. Conte is the perfect coach for the 28-year-old Scotsman, who is currently the best in his role in the Italian flight.
Nowadays, however, the spotlight is all on Romelu Lukaku. His relationship with Conte is known and special. The Italian coach loves the Belgian, and again, this time from the Napoli bank, when it was about choosing a player to lead his attack, he went directly to the striker who wore the Roma sweater last season. In the first half of last season, Lukaku had scored a lot and worn Roma for months.
But he faded during the crucial piece of the campaign. A real shame for the Giallorossi.
But now he seems to be decisive again, as he once was, with Napoli. Of course he is no longer so fast, agile or explosive when he was four or five years ago, but opposing defenders still find it incredibly difficult to mark him.
Usually they can't stop him to score, or at least be dangerous. Lukaku has already collected 11 goals this season, not a large number according to his standards, but what is striking are eight assists. That's a lot. Combined, his direct contributions are a total of 19 goals. After the departure of Kvaratskhelia, someone had to get up and lead the team, and it seems that someone is Lukaku.
Napoli enjoys a better Run-in title
There are not many competitions between now and the end of the season, and in every year goals will weigh twice as much. Errors are no longer allowed. Every goal may be worth a title. These are the moments when champions are called to make the difference.
As we wrote a few weeks ago, the competitions are far from the same pending the two title candidates. In fact in fact. Inter is confronted with considerably more difficult competitions.
And although Intaghis Nerazzurri is currently leading the table with three points, that difference in difficulty Napoli can give an important psychological lead, especially because they no longer have cup competitions to distract them.
The next six league games will decide everything, perhaps even the future of Antonio Conte, a coach who is not exactly known for starting long -term projects or staying too many years in one place. But we are ready to experience this exciting final. Lukaku will have to bring Napoli forward, and based on his performance against Empoli, he can indeed be the man who makes the difference between now and the last whistle of the season.
He has already delivered a scudetto to Conte in the past and he could do it again. Napoli dreams and Lukaku will like to make that dream come true, besides his mentor.
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