Serie A Team of Week 15: Roma Close the Gap to Juventus as AC Milan Shock Napoli
It was a great weekend for the neutrals in Italy. Juventus were held to a draw by Sampdoria while Roma beat Samp's cross-town rivals Genoa thanks to a strike from Radja Nainggolan, closing the gap at the top of the table to a single point and as a result, cranking up the tension and excitement in Serie A by several notches.
Lazio also got seriously involved in the battle for third place and the last Champions League spot with a powerful 0-3 win over Atalanta. The Aquile are 10 points off first place, but that won't bother Stefano Poli too much if his side can hang on and earn European football for next year.
Elsewhere, both Inter and Milan grabbed—somewhat rare—wins, with the Nerazzurri winning away to Chievo Verona while the Rossoneri impressed against Napoli at the San Siro in a 2-0 victory for the home side.
Read on for this week's Best XI from Serie A, lined up in a rough 4-3-3.
Diego Lopez
1 of 11
It's a rare thing to praise anyone in the Milan backline this season, but against Napoli the Rossoneri showed marked improvement and Diego Lopez was flawless between the posts.
The veteran Spaniard dealt well with all that the visitors could fire at him, while also marshalling his defence well.
Rafa Benitez's Partenopei had more possession, shots and corners than Pippo Inzaghi's side—and with a forward like Gonzalo Higuain up front, they're always going to be dangerous if given half a chance. Despite that, Milan contained the threat perfectly and the solidity of the defence will have given a huge boost of confidence to the attacking players farther up the field.
Unfortunately, Milan have been so unpredictable that it's impossible to say whether or not this result was a blip. Only time will tell, but we could well be looking back at this game in May and sighting it as the turning point in the Rossoneri's campaign.
Danilo D'Ambrosio
2 of 11
Not to be outdone by their San Siro neighbours, Inter also won at the weekend with a relatively impressive display against Chievo Verona.
Danilo D'Ambrosio was brilliant at right-back—just pipping Roma's Maicon and Lazio's Dusan Basta to a place in this week's best XI—not only supplying the assist for Andrea Ranocchia's goal, but also winning free kicks in dangerous areas, providing plenty of good supply to the forwards and showing his defensive class, completely nullifying the threat posed by Hetemaj and Biraghi in front of him.
Has Roberto Mancini turned things around?
Andrea Ranocchia
3 of 11
This commentator has been critical of Inter's captain in the past, but against Chievo the Italy international was superb, getting on the scoresheet—with a finish that a striker would be proud of—and giving a convincing performance at the back. If only he could play like this every week.
Gonzalo Rodriguez
4 of 11
Plenty of attacking contributions from Serie A defenders this week.
Gonzalo Rodriguez put in a real captain's showing against minnows Cesena, got on the scoresheet in Fiorentina's commanding 1-4 away win, and was commanding in the air in front of his own 'keeper.
The home side had few opportunities and little to offer in terms of attacking quality, but Rodriguez did everything that was asked of him—and unlike the man alongside him, he didn't score an own-goal.
Pablo Armero
5 of 11
Milan's Pablo Armero was one of the surprises of the round.
The 28-year-old, who is on loan at the San Siro from Udinese, hasn't featured much for Inzaghi's side but didn't look too rusty against Napoli, getting revenge on the club who deemed him surplus to requirements last summer by supplying Giacomo Bonaventura with the ball for Milan's second of the night.
The Colombian international has struggled to find a permanent home after making his name in Udine back in 2010, but if he can string together more showings like this he should be a regular feature in a Milan shirt.
Lazaros Christodoulopoulos
6 of 11
A goal and an assist from midfield for Hellas Verona's Lazaros Christodoulopoulos earns the Greek a mention this week.
The 27-year-old has been supplying assists for Andrea Mandorlini's side since his summer move to Verona, but his strike against Udinese was his debut on the scoresheet. And it couldn't have come at a better time, as it won the game for the Mastini and earned a valuable three points away at the Stadio Friuli.
Radja Nainggolan
7 of 11
Radja Nainggolan must be one of the most exciting midfielders in Europe right now. The Belgian seems to get better by the week and guarantees plenty of lung-busting runs and physicality in the midfield whenever Rudi Garcia picks him to start.
Before moving from Cagliari to Roma, the only thing lacking from the fans' favourite's game was goals, but since arriving in the Italian capital he's not only improved his defensive and passing games, but has become a genuine attacking threat, too.
His strike made the difference against a determined Genoa side to earn the Giallorossi a 0-1 win. Nainggolan now looks genuinely confident when shooting—and it's paying off.
Stefano Mauri
8 of 11
Two goals from Lazio's veteran captain Stefano Mauri, who was at the heart of his team's brilliant win at the Olimpico over Atalanta.
The Aquile had an impressive 23 shots to the visitors' six, with many of the most dangerous moments coming from the left flank with Mauri and Senad Lulic in front of him.
Stefano Pioli's side have somehow crept up into third above more favoured sides like Fiorentina and Napoli. And if they keep this pace up, they could be making a shock appearance in next year's Champions League.
Felipe Anderson
9 of 11
Felipe Anderson's performance on the right side of Lazio's attack against Atalanta was a close to perfect as you're ever likely to see.
His pair of assists only tells part of the story, because he was flawless throughout the game, continuing on from his fine work in the previous round against Parma.
At just 21, the Brazilian is looking like a very exciting prospect, and if he keeps playing like this it will be hard for Lazio to keep hold of him.
Giacomo Bonaventura
10 of 11
Milan's Giacomo Bonaventura remains somewhat perplexing. Sometimes—such as the game against Napoli at the weekend—he looks like a fine footballer with enough talent to make it at the highest level, while he can just as easily seem like a mid-table journeyman who's somehow found himself flung in at the deep end and is doing his best not to be overwhelmed.
Credit where it's due, however: against Napoli he was superb. A goal and an assist have Milan a precious win against an old rival, away from home in one of Serie A's most daunting stadiums.
Jeremy Menez
11 of 11
Pippo Inzaghi is working wonders with France's one-time enfant gâté Jeremy Menez. He linked up very well with Giuseppe Bonaventura at the San Paolo to sink Napoli, continuing the fine form that's made him one of the league's most talked-about forwards so far this season.
The former Roma and Paris Saint-Germain attacker's potential has always been apparent, at least when he chose to make an effort, but since moving to the San Siro Menez has become a genuinely excellent, hard-working footballer. The virtuoso flair is still there, but he's added consistency to the package—and that's made all the difference.
Let me know who'd be in your Team of the Week on Twitter, @ColliOBrien.
