Conte's puzzle for Inter: which Napoli to field in the Scudetto challenge? The 3 hypotheses

For the devil, perhaps, holy water is needed: and if it is not the case to mix the sacred with the profane, it will be necessary to invent a new one or an old one, since everything is written somewhere. Destiny sometimes sneaks in on its own in tackles, takes away the smile and leaves behind cones of shadow in which to go and meditate, perhaps with clasped hands: but in this Castel Volturno that still has a miraculous feel, as the 56 points in the standings say, rather than choosing a protector who is not there, it is better to avoid misunderstandings, close oneself in and try to suffocate the "recommended letters" of fate. Some have arrived, because the postman knocks several times, quite a few in sequence - Olivera, Spinazzola, Neres, Mazzocchi, now Anguissa - and in the return receipt Conte has slipped something of his own: but now that Frank is not there, something mystical in the middle of the field, the notes need to be shuffled and rearranged.

In truth, in truth, they tell you that a lot has already happened, almost everything, last Sunday in Como and before that in Rome against Lazio, 3-5-2 to get out of that tunnel on the left dug by a curse that is in fact, not imaginative: and so the Conte code went on stage, the one that belonged to him for a (not) distant time, placed in the trunk in Naples to accommodate the nature of a team with the 4-3-3 gene inside it and then relaunched. Frank Anguissa, in his best expression that lasted until a month ago, represented a factor, he was a midfielder, mezzala, defender, attacker, goalscorer, silent leader but very visible, at times a real monster: having him or not changes the substance and leads to staying inside that Linus blanket that something has probably stolen, but which is difficult to separate from right now. One of the temptations, perhaps the first, is to stay in the mirror, man against man, leg against leg, race against race, Napoli against Inter, but with the adjustments in the two phases that depend on the interpretations: and if that were the case, for eleven-elevenths, here are those who were on the branch of the lake, before the others, with substitutions made and with energy reduced, got lost.

Chapter-2: what if it were convenient to put back in the center of the village the trident that disappeared due to injuries? At that point, in defense there would be Olivera, captain Di Lorenzo would slide into his usual area, Politano would rise and up high, on the left, Spinazzola, like in Florence, or Raspadori, like in his life in Sassuolo, like sometimes with Spalletti, like the many things he knows how to do well. And it would also be a version very close to that of the first leg, courageous and brazen, authoritative and impudent.

But there is a possibility, it seems very remote, maybe it is simply a feeling that wanders around the Pineta di Castel Volturno, to dive into the 4-2-3-1, which for lovers of numbers and digressions would then transform into 4-4-2, but these are secular external readings. And yet in the team there are setters (Gilmour to be placed alongside Lobotka) or beastly physiques (McTominay on the left side of the Slovakian or close to Lukaku).

There are still three days to go until the so-called new mother of all matches, there will be just as many training sessions, Antonio Conte will come up with theses that Antonio Conte will propose to himself, he will scrutinize them, he will break them down, he will reconstruct them, he will let himself be gently (well, gently, right?) enveloped in the atmosphere of a vigil that perhaps should be experienced with a candle at hand. Who knows, maybe it can help!