Inter against Naples in Serie A: Rumpelstiltskin and Braveheart resist

For years, “shame” has repeatedly appeared in Antonio Conte’s public vocabulary. You just have to be patient and look through the recent history of Italian and English football, in which Conte regularly appears RumpelstiltskinRumpelstiltskin went crazy on sidelines and in press conferences. Very often in such moments the coach presents his favorite word, once, particularly legendary, he shouted it as coach of Juventus Turin into an embarrassingly silent press room: “È una vergogna”, it was a shame how the championship was stolen from him back then. Of course, from those Conte likes to get upset about the most: the referees.

Compared to previous episodes, Conte formulated things more specifically on Sunday evening and chose the imperative for the people involved. First he shouted previously undefined sounds at the referee Daniele Doveri and kicked a bottle through Milan’s San Siro because Doveri had whistled a very clear penalty against Conte’s SSC Napoli after a VAR intervention. When the referee showed the coach the red card for his showmanship, Conte then immediately delivered a message to the fourth official: “Vergognatevi”, shame on you, he shouted from almost ten centimeters into Andrea Colombo’s face, several times.

Just as there are documentaries about the most beautiful railway routes in Italy, there should also be television formats about the most beautiful freaks of Italian football coaches. The one from the top Serie A game on Sunday evening would have deserved a place of honor, especially because it was so wonderfully unfounded and pointless: The justified penalty made it 2-1 for Inter Milan, but a little later Naples equalized again to make the final score 2-2. And one of the winners in this draw was: Antonio Conte.

It has been remarkable for weeks that Napoli simply does not give up. Of course, nominally the Campanians are the defending champions, who are once again candidates for the championship. But Conte and his proud football club have been struggling for months, others would have long since declared a crisis: striker Romelu Lukaku has been out since August, outstanding signing Kevin De Bruyne since the end of October, regular players like Frank Anguissa and Billy Gilmour since December. The Brazilian David Neres, who had been the best offensive player in the league since late autumn, also had to withdraw from the game against Inter. Conte no longer has any good individual options, only the hope of cohesion.

In contrast to Inter, pursuers Milan constantly lose points against teams from the bottom of the table

So it was a badly decimated Napoli that played against the league leaders in Milan. An advantage from the previous season has also long been lost, when all competitors had to play the Champions League during the week, while training was easy in Naples. But the decisive characters have remained the same, as has the team’s irrepressible commitment: The 2-2 result came from very resilient Conte tactics and the actions of the Scot Scott McTominay, who scored both goals and about whom the Italian commentators only say “ancora lui” after his goals – him again.

McTominay, who has been traveling through Italy for a year and a half like Braveheart once did through Scotland in the cinema, kept the Serie A championship fight exciting with his brace against Inter. Even if the title race is gradually becoming a cabinet of curiosities, because, like in the circus, everyone has a special trick up their sleeves. In fourth place, their rivals AS Roma achieved the feat of only conceding twelve goals in 20 games, but still lost seven times. AC Milan in second place, on the other hand, has not yet lost a game against a championship rival, but has given away a double-digit number of points to relegation candidates. Last week alone – in DFB striker Niclas Füllkrug’s first appearances – there were only two very fortunate points against Genoa and bottom team Florence.

And then there is Inter Milan, the league leaders, who are in a crisis of self-image. Actually, everything seems to be in perfect order for Inter and coach Christian Chivu, three points ahead in the league and sixth place in the Champions League table is an acceptable result. If only it weren’t for the fact that under Chivu’s direction, Inter have not yet won a single major game against a top opponent. A 1-0 win against Roma in the autumn can be found in the season statistics, otherwise defeats against Milan, Napoli, Juventus Turin, Atlético Madrid, Liverpool FC and in the Supercup against Bologna in December. Chivu is now decried as a kind of anti-Conte, as someone who cannot win crucial games on the way to titles.

This is increasingly causing irritation among the audience in Milan, and the late 2-2 draw against Naples and the coach’s threadbare statement (“You also have to show respect to your opponents”) will do the rest. The cloudy memories are too fresh: Last year under Simone Inzaghi, Inter lost the championship in the second half of the season because the hunt for the Champions League title took priority. Conte and Napoli took advantage of every little weakness in their biggest rival Inter, remained patient and stole their Scudetto from the northern Italians on the final matchdays. This scenario would have seemed very unlikely in January – if Inter had won on Sunday evening.

But as it is, the image of McTominay’s heroic 2-2 remains in the memory. And of course that of Antonio Conte, the rager, who first disappeared into the catacombs of San Siro after his seizure and then appeared in the stands. Behind a plastic screen, he celebrated his team’s late equalizer. This time you couldn’t understand what he was saying.