Five talking points from Serie A Matchday 13

The 2017/18 season in Italy fast approaches its half-way mark as the 13th round of games concludes today with relegation battling Verona taking on mid-table trotters Bologna.

Over the weekend though, we witnessed plenty of drama starting with AS Roma's nervy 2-1 win over city rivals Lazio, the same score with which Napoli plonked on a visiting AC Milan. The latter's crosstown nemesis though, Inter Milan, won 2-0 against 11th placed Atalanta.

The headline-grabbing result though was Juve's 3-2 loss to Sampdoria, whilst in other news, minnows Cagliari and Sassuolo picked up away wins and Torino was held to a 1-1 draw by Chievo.

#1 Juventus are there for the taking

Quite frankly, the Bianconeri have been terrible this season even if they sit third in the table with 31 points from a possible 39, albeit having played a game more than AS Roma who is hot on their heels.

The aura of invincibility that their star-studded defense had about them in the 2016/17 campaign, appears to have been punctured this time around. With 14 goals already conceded - twice as much as they did at this stage last year - Juve's backline is facing some troubled times.

With the tenacity on the right flank departing with Dani Alves' move to PSG and the unbreachable center-back pairing of Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci cleaved after the latter's move to AC Milan, manager Max Allegri was left with the task of reassessing his options at the back. But 13 games in, he's still struggling to come up with a solution.

As it was so evident against La Samp, Juve is lacking the confidence and the chutzpah with which they have bestrode football in the Italian peninsula like a colossus.

The defensive muscle with which they kept out the fearsome attacking trident of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar over the course of 180 minutes, is today, struggling to keep out minnows such as Atalanta, Genoa, and even bottom-placed Benevento.

That's the sorry and sorrowful state of Juve's rearguard today. It's a far cry from their impenetrable selves of 16/17.

#2 Inter Milan raising title hopes with each passing week

Whisper it quietly but the Nerazzurri can challenge for the scudetto

Each passing week, the bookies bet their bottom dollar on the Nerazzurri to drop points; and each passing week, they incur substantial losses.

13 games into the new season, Inter Milan stand as the only other side apart from leaders Napoli to remain undefeated thus far, a testimony to their blistering start.

Buoyed by target man Mauro Icardi's rich vein of form, Luciano Spaletti's side is off to a flyer and isn't showing signs of slowing down. Mid-table strugglers Atalanta was their latest victims, as the Argentinian forward bagged another brace to secure all three points for the hosts.

One of the instrumental reasons for such a strong start isn't only the lethal attacking, but also an obdurate defending, having conceded just 9 times in 13 games. This Inter Milan team is more fearless than what they've been in years and look like a cohesive, smoothly functioning unit.

The fact they're undefeated against Napoli, AS Roma, Fiorentina and AC Milan only add more substance to the statement.

To consider the Black and Blues as title favorites at this juncture might seem taking the biscuit too far for a few, but one shouldn't disregard the credibility. The Lombardy outfit is growing stronger week after week, and continuing in the same vein would spice up the Champions League race.

#3 AC Milan are still some way off matching the elite

AC Milan are finding it very difficult especially against their equals

Whilst their neighbors are experiencing an upturn in form, the Rossoneri are still grappling with an erratic run. But more importantly, what the 2-1 defeat to Napoli this Saturday highlighted is their continued inefficiency against the bigger sides in the division.

The Partenopei had the visitors by the short and curlies, racing to a 2-0 lead with some clinical attacking display. Milan's defense was rendered helpless on both occasions, as Alessio Romagnoli's late strike was a mere consolation for an otherwise forlorn visitors.

Manager Vincenzo Montella is failing exactly where Filippo Inzaghi and Sinisa Mihajlovic before him, did - instilling desire and bravery in this team against the bigger sides.

This psychological inferiority with which Milan enter the field puts them in a precarious position even before a ball is kicked. And, this has to change if they are to stop dropping points so cheaply.

The advent of Chinese ownership was supposed to be the harbinger of an uprising in a side that's so desperate to get back to the summit. But if their current state is anything to go by, it's not happening and won't happen anytime soon.

For all their expensive acquisitions, AC Milan remains miles behind the elite grouping, and it would take more than just hefty expenditure to restore it to its former glory.

#4 Lazio realize Immobile alone won't be enough to secure a place in Europe

Lazio need players other than Immobile to contribute

Italy's most in-form striker Ciro Immobile was perhaps the only shining light in the Azzurri's otherwise stuttering World Cup qualifying that eventually ended in doom, serving a timely reminder that chronic dependence on one player can come back to bite you.

Lazio might want to take a leaf or two of Italy's book.

The Rome outfit signed Immobile for a paltry sum of €8.75 million from league rivals Torino, but the investment has reaped more rewards than expected. The 27-year old is the single biggest reason why Lazio is in the top five right now, scoring 15 times in 13 games, including a hat-trick in the 4-1 drubbing of AC Milan.

In the Rome derby against the Giallorossis, the former Borussia Dortmund man sparked a glimmer of hope with a well-taken penalty, but it was too little too late as Lazio were already defeated, on the field, by then.

Whilst Immobile continues to deliver and justify every penny that the Sky Blues has spent on him, the outcome is a lesson to Simone Inzaghi and co. that if they were to finish in the European places this season, then Immobile alone cannot do it. They need to function as a team rather than rely on one man to do it all.

#5 Benevento is headed back to Serie B soon

The Serie A newcomers are almost certain to be relegated

Campania's Benevento Calcio is playing in Italy's top flight for the first time ever in their history, and a 13-game losing run certainly wasn't the way they would've expected their debut to pan out.

Yes, you read it right, the Yellow and Reds have lost each and every game of the league so far, also setting the unwanted record for the worst start to a Serie A season ever in the process.

Rock-bottom in the standings with a grand total of zero points in the bag, the Naples outfit have accrued just six goals and conceded a staggering 33.

The likes of Napoli, AS Roma, Lazio, and Fiorentina have literally made them sweep the floor with dominant wins, amassing a total of 18 goals between them against Benevento this season.

With a defense that's virtually non-existent and an attack that's seriously impotent, Benevento is having a torrid time in the premier Italian league and a relegation back into the second division looks very imminent.

Roberto De Zerbi's side is easily one of the worst football has seen in decades, and the hapless Italian gaffer will soon face the ax.

Benevento's long list of humiliations also includes an embarrassing 4-0 home loss to Serie B side Perugia in the Coppa Italia, reflecting where they rightfully belong.