The marquee matchup of Matchday 13 will take place Sunday night at the Stadio Olimpico — with top spot on the line.
Between first-place Roma and sixth-place Como (who beat Sassuolo in Friday’s opener), there are only three points. That alone shows how balanced and crowded the Serie A title race is this season — more than it has been in years.
With that necessary premise — because the top three could be completely reshuffled in the span of one or two matchdays — Sunday night’s showdown between Roma and Napoli becomes even more compelling.
It’s a clash worth much more than three points, because it may offer key answers about what awaits in the coming months. Has Napoli truly put behind the crisis that led Conte to say he wasn’t willing to “drag a corpse around” for the rest of the season? Can Gasperini’s Roma maintain their grip on first place in a season struggling to find a true dominant force?
Historically, when Roma were competitive yet failed to win, it was always because they ran into “untouchable” sides that steamrolled their way to the title: post-Calciopoli Inter, record-setting Juventus (and their nine straight Scudetti under Conte and Allegri), just to cite the most recent.
The great frustration of Roma supporters has always been the absence of a competitive team in seasons without a clear favorite. This year’s narrow yet solitary lead in such an evenly matched campaign is stirring hope that this trend may finally be reversed.
Of course, Roma were not built to fight for the Scudetto — unlike Napoli — but Gasperini’s work has delivered a solid, well-defined team identity, capable of handling adversity, including a decimated forward line that forced the use of Baldanzi as a false nine.
Looking at historical patterns, Roma and Napoli — despite giving life to a classic “Derby del Sud,” enriched in the ’80s by Falcao on one side and Maradona on the other, and once marked by a strong fan friendship later broken — have never been true title rivals. There has never been a Serie A season in which their head-to-head meeting helped decide the Scudetto. At most, they have battled for a Champions League spot, but never side by side for the title. When one was in the Scudetto race, the other was always out of it.
This is what makes Sunday night’s top-of-the-table clash even sweeter and more meaningful: Roma first, Napoli second, facing each other to claim sole leadership. And while at least three other sides — Milan, Inter, and Bologna (with a potential Juventus resurgence under Spalletti lurking in the background) — are in perfect position to capitalize on any slip from either side and overturn the hierarchy, today the beauty lies in awaiting and living this Derby del Sud for what it truly is: a historic moment in which the two most prominent clubs of central and southern Italy square off for first place.
Dreaming remains not only legitimate but necessary — as Gasperini reminds everyone after each match.
Speaking of Roma–Napoli, on SMIT’s Instagram page you’ll find a double interview with Claudio Tamborra, Vice President of Roma Club New York, and Rosario Procino, President of the Napoli Club New York City.
You’ll also find our Match Analyst Pietro Dell’Anna’s breakdown of the big match, previewing it as always through both statistical and tactical lenses.
A perfect way to accompany you toward Sunday night’s showdown.
L’articolo Serie A: The Weekend of Roma–Napoli proviene da Soccer Made In Italy.
