Zlatan Ibrahimovic picked up where he left off in his first match after the international break as his brace led Serie A leaders AC Milan to a massive 1-3 away win over Napoli.
However, that win — Milan’s first at the San Paolo in over a decade — was soured by the fact that the 39-year-old also picked up a hamstring injury that could leave him sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Roma and Juventus — led by one Cristiano Ronaldo — also won to keep the pressure on the leaders, while Atalanta continued their concerning dip in form.
As always, SBOTOP takes stock of all the big winners and losers from the latest round of Serie A matches.
Winner: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan has had a simply remarkable start to the season. The 39-year-old bagged another brace in Milan’s huge matchup away to Napoli, giving the Rossoneri the 1-3 win.
The sensational Swede has scored in each of his first six games this season, becoming just the fourth player in the modern Serie A era to achieve such a feat.
But while Covid-19 hardly slowed Zlatan down, he picked up a hamstring injury against Napoli that could potentially keep him out for the next few weeks.
Zlatan has been nothing short of instrumental in leading Milan to the top of the Serie A table through the first eight rounds of the season. The Rossoneri must now face their biggest test yet and survive their star striker’s possibly lengthy absence.
Loser: Napoli
After a sizzling start to the season, Napoli aren’t looking so hot at the moment. With their latest setback against Milan, they’ve now lost two of their last three outings and are now six points adrift of the league leaders.
Granted, those two losses came against the current top two, Milan and Sassuolo. But on the other hand, Gennaro Gattuso’s men lost both matches at home, which is not ideal for a side with title aspirations.
It won’t get much easier for Napoli as they have another tough home match next weekend against high-flying Roma. Speaking of whom…
Winner: Roma
With Napoli’s loss, Roma jumped up to third in the table after beating Parma 3-0. It was their third win in a row and their fifth in the last six games.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan bagged a brace as he continued his outstanding form this season. The 31-year-old, who scored a hat-trick in Roma’s 1-3 win over Genoa just before the international break, now has five goals and four assists in eight matches this season.
It remains to be seen just how long Roma can keep this up; aside from Mkhitaryan, their other top two forwards in Edin Dzeko (34) and Pedro (33) are quite old and may not sustain this high level of play for the entire season.
But if that trio can remain healthy, Roma look like they can make a legitimate run at a Champions League place this season.
Loser: Atalanta
Roma could end up taking Atalanta’s spot in the top four when it’s all said and done. La Dea don’t seem to be faring too well with the jam-packed schedule this season, which has seen their form take a significant dip.
They looked completely flat in their goalless draw against newly promoted Spezia over the weekend. They had just 44.7 per cent of possession and 11 shots, which is very unlike Atalanta. They have also won just once in their last five Serie A matches and twice in their last eight in all competitions.
Manager Gian Piero Gasperini has been integrating several new players to the system this season, and based on their recent Serie A 2020 results, it’s clear he still has a lot of work to do to get La Dea back to the high level they were at over the last few years.
Winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
Much like Zlatan, Cristiano Ronaldo is also still playing at an extremely high level despite his advanced age. The 35-year-old scored both goals in Juventus’ 2-0 win over Cagliari, giving him five goals in his last three games since returning from Covid.
Ronaldo now has eight league goals this season, second in the league behind Zlatan. The rest of the Juventus team has just six, which shows just how crucial he remains to the Old Lady.
The likes of Aaron Ramsey and Paulo Dybala will need to play their part as the season wears on. But Juve can afford to wait on their other stars to find their form as long as Ronaldo keeps banging in the goals at such an impressive rate.
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