Italian football results on the day of "Befana"
In the traditional "Befana" football, a good witch in Italy who brings post-Christmas gifts, Juventus took the temporary lead, waiting to see what Inter Milan does on Monday at Napoli's field, where they haven't won since 1997.
After losing the Italian Super Cup to Lazio in their last match of 2019, Juventus took 49 minutes to unlock the match against Cagliari and did so thanks to Cristiano's fifth consecutive league goal, something he had never achieved before with the "bianconeri" shirt.
The Portuguese, who starts a year full of challenges, with the aim of giving Juventus the European Cup and defending the Euro title won with Portugal in 2016, scored a hat-trick, completed with a penalty in the 67th minute and another goal in the 82nd minute assisted by Brazilian Douglas Costa.
And that's because Cagliari, despite going through a low moment, still occupies the sixth position, was the only team Cristiano had not yet scored against in Serie A. He did it three times and is now six goals away from Ciro Immobile, the top scorer with 19 goals.
Juventus' rout was completed by Argentine Gonzalo Higuaín, author of the 3-0 right after coming off the bench, and is the most convincing victory of the season for Maurizio Sarri's men.
If there is enthusiasm in Turin, the situation is completely different in Milan. Milan, in Ibrahimovic's debut, only managed a dull 0-0 against Sampdoria at San Siro, with the visitors having the best opportunities.
The Swedish forward, who arrived on a free transfer with a six-month contract after his deal with Los Angeles Galaxy expired, was applauded when he came on the field in the 55th minute and came close to scoring with a header, but could not avoid another Milan stumble.
Coach Stefano Pioli's team, who closed 2019 with a setback (0-5) against Atalanta, is twelfth with 22 points and thirteen points away from the Champions League zone, their goal at the beginning of the campaign.
After ending 2019 with a dream-like 5-0 against Milan, Atalanta opened 2020 with another exhibition of game and goals, this time against Parma, which they defeated 5-0 led by a great performance from Papu Gómez.
The team from Bergamo went into halftime with a resounding 3-0 on the scoreboard, decided by a brilliant left-footed goal from outside the box by Gómez and goals from Swiss Remo Freuler, assisted by the "Papu", and German Robin Gosens.
It was a celebration for Giampiero Gasperini's men, who sealed the match with a brace from Slovenian Josip Iličić and celebrated in the second half the return of Colombian forward Duván Zapata after three months out due to a groin injury suffered with his national team against Chile in October in Alicante.
The Italian Epiphany day opened with a 1-1 draw between Bologna and Fiorentina in the so-called Apennine Derby. The Florence team, with Giuseppe Iachini making his debut as coach, took the lead thanks to a fantastic goal from Marco Benassi in the first half, but lost the three points in the 94th minute when Riccardo Orsolini equalized.
Fiorentina is still in deep crisis of results, sitting fifteenth and without a win since October 30th. Meanwhile, Bologna is in tenth place with 23 points.