In the last sprint of the championship it will be necessary to fight on every ball, against any opponent. This admonition must be well posted in the locker room of Lecce’s training camp. Taking a look at the matches played against Inter, Napoli, Atalanta, Bologna, Juventus, Lazio, Roma, Fiorentina, Milan and Udinese, the teams occupying to date the positions from first to tenth, one can see the dryness of the points won by Lecce. The Giallorossi are last with only 2 points won, the result of home draws against Bologna (0-0) and Juventus (1-1 with Rebic’s goal in the second half), none away from the Via del Mare. In the last nine, five matches will be with the top 10 in the standings. Baschirotto and his teammates will have to receive Roma and Napoli and pay a visit to Atalanta, Juventus and Lazio.
Como and Verona, now higher up in the salvation fight with 29 points, built more than half of their haul against the top ten. The Larians beat Napoli, Roma and Udinese at Sinigaglia while also winning at the Gewiss Stadium against Atalanta thanks in part to Strefezza’s goal. Roma and Napoli were the victims who fell at the Bentegodi at the hands of Hellas Verona, also victorious at home against Fiorentina and strong from outside blows in Bologna before the 0-1 scoreline sealed by Duda in the last round before the March rest.
With Lecce, on 25 points, is Parma. Chivu smiled as he beat Bologna (2-0) in the very derby of Emilia, but their other home successes against AC Milan and Lazio also weigh in the economy of the season. Eight points equally distributed between home and away for D’Aversa’s Empoli at 22 points (-3 from Lecce). No big names beaten at the Castellani, but a signature success against De Rossi’s Roma in the Azzurri’s hot start to the season. The recent string of draws, most recently with Atalanta and Napoli, has inflated Venezia’s points tally: weigh the 3-2 win at Udinese in the eight-point total.
No success also for Cagliari, author of two draws with Milan and coming out unscathed at home to Atalanta and Juventus. Nearly a third of Monza’s points came against Fiorentina, beaten at home with Bocchetti as coach after a draw at the Stadio Franchi in the first leg.
The ranking by points in games against the top ten placed
Como 17/29 casa 10 trasferta 7
Verona 16/29 casa 10 trasferta 6
Parma 12/25 casa 10 trasferta 2
Empoli 8/22 casa 4 trasferta 4
Venezia 8/20 casa 5 trasferta 3
Monza 6/15 casa 5 trasferta 1
Cagliari 5/26 casa 2 trasferta 3
Lecce 2/25 casa 2 trasferta 0
For conversion, one could also draw up a ranking of the top 10 Serie A teams that have lost the most points to those still fighting for salvation today. Fiorentina “leads” at 13 points conceded ahead of the Udinese-Roma-Bologna trio at 11. Napoli pays 7 points. Milan, Lazio, Juventus and Atalanta are at 5, while Inter conceded only 1 point (to Monza).
The article Points against the top 10: a negative gulf between Lecce and the others comes from Calcio Lecce.
