Matriarchy of series "A"

This is the second club of the Italian elite headed by a woman

The Italian Championship, after Juventus ended up in the same Champions League group with Zenit, became a little closer to Russia. This tournament, which has already been going on for a season, follows the formula: “Inter” and everyone else. It seems that nothing will change: the undisputed champion of recent years, strengthened primarily by coach Jose Mourinho, is not going to give up his position. And the fact that after the second round they found their own upstarts who topped the table is nothing to worry about for Inter - before, there were also teams that maintained the appearance of intrigue.

A couple of weeks ago, Inter, having failed to win the opening match against Sampdoria, gave their competitors hope. In the last round, having allowed Catania to open the scoring, Mourinho’s team, which remained in the minority for the whole half, strengthened it. But the opponents, as if frightened, capitulated, sending the ball into their own goal twice. And now the Portuguese coach can focus on why he was invited to a club that plays well at home - playing in the Champions League. And the fact that with the arrival of Mourinho, Inter switched to playing with one striker and lost even more in entertainment, no one in Italy particularly cares.

Compared to their successful neighbors, Milan's disastrous start (two defeats in two matches) looks completely catastrophic. Silvio Berlusconi, busy with political affairs, never gets around to organizing a generational change in the team, although this step has been coming for the third season. The cosmetic renovation in the form of inviting Ronaldinho turned out to be expensive, but so far it has not justified itself. Zambrotta, Borriello, Senderos, Flamini and Abbiati, also acquired in the summer, do not look like those who can become the new face of Milan. And the return of Andrei Shevchenko from Chelsea does seem like a step aimed at reassuring the fans. They are already demanding new decisions, and above all, the resignation of Carlo Ancelotti from the post of head coach.

Another close competitor of Inter, Roma, is doing little better. So the burden of responsibility for the intrigue in the Italian championship fell on the shoulders of Juventus. Zenit's Champions League opponent, with whom Advocaat's team will play tomorrow, lives up to expectations. In the last round, the “Old Lady” defeated a very strong “Udinese” - 1:0. The only goal was scored by Amauri. But the Brazilian is unlikely to start on Wednesday. In the most important matches, Claudio Ranieri relies on the attacking combination of Trezeguet and Del Piero. Both rested on Sunday, appearing only at the very end of the match.

Ranieri sees Zenit as a more serious rival than Udinese. “Russian football has improved in recent years, like everything else in Europe,” Ranieri noted the increased financial capabilities of our clubs. - But in the fact that Zenit won the UEFA Cup and the European Super Cup, I also see the merit of Advocaat, who built a good team. “Zenit plays in a 4--3--3 formation with several attacking shuttles, I think that on Wednesday you will see a real fight.” But Juventus players do not expect the match against Zenit to be much different from Sunday's developments. In Turin they think that the guests, like Udinese, will spend most of the playing time on the defensive, trying to operate on counterattacks.

Now the “old lady” has to correctly distribute her forces on two fronts - the Champions League and the Italian championship. Moreover, if one should not expect a revolution in the championship standings, this does not mean at all that there are no revolutions in Serie A at all. It happens at the very top. This season, two women became presidents of Italian clubs, and not the most recent ones. First, Rosella Sensi took up a high position at Roma. She previously managed all the financial affairs of the Roman club, owned by the Sensi clan. But for the time being, Rosella’s father, Franco Sensi, was officially listed as president. But after he passed away a month ago, his daughter came to the fore.

Last week, another family tandem came to power in the Italian football club. Francesca Menarini became the president of Bologna, and her father Renzo was appointed to the post of general manager of the club. Accordingly, the Menarini family bought a controlling stake in the club. “The chance to prove myself in such a purely male field as football gives me additional motivation. I hope that there will be more and more women at the head of football clubs. I haven’t spoken to Rosella Sensi yet, but I will call her and ask for advice,” Francesca Menarini commented on her appointment. And perhaps Series A will become a little more attractive with the arrival of two female presidents.

Italian Championship. 2nd round. "Palermo" - "Roma" - 3:1, "Inter" - "Catania" - 2:1, "Bologna" - "Atalanta" - 0:1, "Genoa" - "Milan" -- 2:0, Lazio -- Sampdoria -- 2:0, Lecce -- Chievo -- 2:0, Napoli -- Fiorentina -- 2:1, Regina "- "Torino" - 1:1, "Siena" - "Cagliari" - 2:0, "Juventus" - "Udinese" - 1:0. The leaders are : Lazio, Atalanta - 6 points each, Torino, Inter, Napoli, Juventus - 4 each.

Andrey VDOVIN