Serie A Team of Week 18: Totti Shines in Rome Derby as Vidal's Juve Down Napoli
Roma's Francesco Totti was the star for the Giallorossi in the weekend's biggest fixture, the Rome derby with Lazio.
Stefano Pioli's side shocked their rivals with two goals in the first half, before Rudi Garcia's changes—and an inspired performance from their captain—sparked Roma to respond and earn a draw.
The stalemate in the capital meant that Juventus' 3-1 win over Napoli gave Massimiliano Allegri's Bianconeri a three-point lead in the Scudetto race. It also kept Lazio in third place, a point ahead of Rafa Benitez's side.
Elsewhere, Fiorentina hosted Palermo in a seven-goal thriller, while a late fightback from Torino secured a point against Milan. At the San Siro, the revival under Roberto Mancini continues as Inter impressed against Genoa.
Read on to find out who made our Best XI from this week's round of games in Italy.
Diego Lopez
1 of 11
After a horrible start to the season, things at Torino have improved in recent weeks. Even so, Pippo Inzaghi's AC Milan will have wanted more from their game with Toro than a 1-1 draw.
Had it not been for Diego Lopez between the posts, however, the result almost surely would have been a whole lot less palatable.
The Spaniard spared his defence's blushes on several occasions in Turin and was brilliant for Fabio Quagliarella's dangerous effort in the second half. If only he had some confident defenders in front of him, the Rossoneri just might be able to keep more clean sheets.
Sime Vrsaljko
2 of 11
Sassuolo held Udinese to a 1-1 draw at the Mapei Stadium, keeping the Zebrette one point behind them, in 12th place.
Sime Vrsaljko shone throughout, dominating the right flank and contributing plenty to the defensive and offensive phases, including a perfectly weighted cross to assist for Simone Zaza's opener.
The 23-year-old Croatian needs to work on his discipline—he earned his fifth card in seven games, and he was sent off against Roma in December—but when on form he's a very talented young full-back.
Kamil Glik
3 of 11
At the moment, Torino's Kamil Glik is putting strikers to shame with his prowess in front of goal. The Polish centre-back has bagged four in his last four league games for the Granata, and he was again decisive against Milan.
Glik's brilliant header in the 80th minute left the Rossoneri defence looking foolish and grabbed a valuable point for Giampiero Ventura's side. His passing, tackling and clearances also made a huge difference for Toro.
Nemanja Vidic
4 of 11
No, this isn't a mistake. After a horrible start to life in Serie A, Inter's Nemanja Vidic has improved considerably, and more than any other player for the Nerazzurri, it was the Serbian who made the biggest impression against Genoa.
Vidic looked like his old self in defence, completely nullifying Alessandro Matri and keeping things secure at the back while his side built a two-goal lead.
Then, just when Samir Handanovic's fumble allowed Armando Izzo to score in the 84th minute—a goal that could easily have inspired the visitors to come back for a point—the 33-year-old stepped up with a powerful header to finish the game off.
Highlights for all the weekend's action, including Vidic's first goal in Serie A, can be seen on the Corriere della Sera's website, here in Italian.
Manuel Pasqual
5 of 11
Fiorentina's defence should be seriously questioned after allowing Palermo back into their game at the Artemio Franchi, but the Viola's left wing-back Manuel Pasqual still deserves plenty of credit for his goal and assist.
The 32-year-old Italian opened the scoring in Florence and then set up Juan Cuadrado to regain the lead, so it's fair to say he made a huge impact on this match.
He wasn't the only player taken by surprise by Palermo's second-half sub Robin Quaison, but Vincenzo Montella should still be furious that such a dangerous player was given so much space.
Pedro Obiang
6 of 11
Sampdoria's 1-0 win over Empoli wasn't the most glamorous fixture of this round, but there were plenty of positives for Sinisa Mihajlovic in this game—especially considering that the Blucerchiati were so miserable against Lazio in their previous game.
Pedro Obiang, who was one of the poorest against the Aquile in that 3-0 loss in Rome, looked like a different player against Empoli.
The 22-year-old Spaniard, who was once considered among Serie A's most promising young players, was impressive in midfield for Samp, alongside the also-excellent Alfred Duncan and veteran Angelo Palombo, who had a poor game.
Arturo Vidal
7 of 11
After losing the Supercoppa Italiana to Napoli on penalties back in December, Juventus took their revenge at the Stadio San Paolo with a convincing 3-1 win. The victory also gave the Bianconeri a three-point lead in the championship over rivals Roma.
No one was more crucial to that win than Arturo Vidal. The Chilean put in yet another man of the match performance—stats site whoscored.com credits him with three in his last three league games—and he capped it all off with an incredible goal in injury time to kill off the game.
Paul Pogba
8 of 11
Paul Pogba wasn't Juventus' best player in Naples, but the young Frenchman deserves a place in this week's best XI by virtue of the fact that he scored such a stunning goal to grab the lead.
Highlights of the game, available via the Corriere della Sera (in Italian), are well-worth watching.
Felipe Anderson
9 of 11
Yet again, Felipe Anderson was by far Lazio's best player against Roma.
The Brazilian set up his captain, Stefano Mauri, for the Aquile's first, and then doubled their lead later in the first half with another display of his technique from distance.
Anderson's lofted pass for Mauri left the Giallorossi defence helpless, and though Morgan De Sanctis might be upset at not getting to his strike just minutes later, it was the perfect opportunist's effort from outside the box.
The 21-year-old now has five goals and five assists in his last five games. At this rate, Lazio won't be able to keep him at the Olimpico for long.
Juan Cuadrado
10 of 11
Juan Cuadrado's team-mates in defence could have made it easier for the Colombian by not letting Palermo back into the game.
Nevertheless, the 26-year-old was on stunning form for Fiorentina, assisting the opener from Manuel Pasqual before grabbing a goal of his own. If the Viola could only get Mario Gomez scoring, they'd have a very frightening front line.
Francesco Totti
11 of 11
Thirty-eight years old and still capable of changing a game.
Roma's evergreen captain Francesco Totti dragged the Giallorossi back into their derby with Lazio almost single-handedly, inspiring a second-half comeback from 0-2 down to earn a draw and stay within three points of league leaders Juventus.
The Roman trequartista obviously loves scoring against his local rivals, and his 45th brace took his tally to 239 league goals.
It goes without saying that Totti is an inspirational player for Roma, and the Lupi have never lost a derby when their No. 10 has gotten on the scoresheet.
Bleacher Report recently caught up with the Italian legend for an exclusive Q&A, which can be read here.
