“The reality is different to the narrative,” declared Cristian Chivu in his press conference just before a 2-1 win away to Genoa sent Inter top of the table. Fresh off back-to-back Champions League defeats, albeit in controversial circumstances, and having lost four Serie A games in the first 14 rounds, his approach to criticism was bullish. “Despite what people say, in my view we are having a great season. We started under a magnifying glass, because people said we were failures and we were finished, but we are still up there.”

Looking at the standings, it is rather hard to disagree with him. Inter are the sole leaders, the first time all campaign they have been in this position. Even with those setbacks against Atlético Madrid and Liverpool, they remain in a strong position to secure a top-eight Champions League spot and will participate in the Supercoppa Italiana in Riyadh this week.

Yann Bisseck and Lautaro Martínez were on target against Genoa, inflicting the first league defeat on Chivu’s old Roma teammate Daniele De Rossi, who has revitalised the team since replacing Patrick Vieira. We’ve seen things change rapidly in the Serie A table, the leaders switching positions every weekend, at times with four teams huddled together in a one-point radius.

Nonetheless, Chivu perhaps over-egged the pudding when declaring “a few months ago, they had us finishing eighth or tenth because we looked finished”. Even Inter’s biggest critics wouldn’t have suggested missing out on Europe altogether. It’s true the Nerazzurri ended last season empty-handed, but they were competitive to the bitter end in practically everything, losing the Scudetto on the final day, the Champions League final, the Supercoppa Italiana final, and the Coppa Italia semi-final. Simone Inzaghi walked away for a lucrative role in Saudi Arabia, but the squad remained essentially intact. It’s true their core stars aren’t getting any younger, as exemplified by the injuries to Hakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi against Liverpool, but there is still potential in this group.

“We have some ups and downs, naturally we’d like to remove the downs, but we are confident in our work,” added Chivu. Inter are up there currently because they’ve won the most games in Serie A this term, now hitting 11, and are yet to experience a single draw. When you get three points for a victory, slow and steady no longer wins the race. The emotional rollercoaster is the way to the top.

Action from Genoa v Inter under the lights at the Luigi Ferraris stadium. Photograph: Tiziano Ballabio/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

That is a lesson Max Allegri may want to learn at AC Milan, who are unbeaten since the opening-round shocker to newly promoted Cremonese, but on Sunday were held to their fifth draw by old nemesis Sassuolo. Missing the injured Rafael Leão and Santiago Giménez, the Rossoneri found an unexpected brace hero in Davide Bartesaghi, their academy left-back who at 19 scored his first two Serie A goals, but it still wasn’t enough to avoid dropping more points against a minnow.

It is curious that while all Inter’s defeats this season have been against the big clubs, Allegri’s Milan thrived in these top of the table clashes, yet struggled against Cremonese, Pisa, Parma and Sassuolo. Incredibly, three of those fixtures were 2-2 draws, making for wildly open matches. Like Napoli last season, Milan have the benefit of not having European distractions, but they are so far not making the most of that undoubted advantage.

Napoli look as if they could be out of Europe by the end of next month and Antonio Conte may well welcome that outcome, seeing as he never did get along with the Champions League. Only once has he got past the round of 16, and that was in his first attempt at Juventus in 2012-13. Even before half his squad got injured, he rarely rotated the starting XI, so it’s no wonder his players looked utterly drained in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Udinese. This is a coach who doesn’t trust his bench options, so he ends up exhausting the starters, while sapping any remaining confidence out of the rest. It worked with only one tournament, but add the Champions League, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa, and this is a recipe for disaster.

Davide Bartesaghi’s brace was not enough to defeat Sassuolo. Photograph: AGF/Nicola Marfisi/Shutterstock

Speaking of disasters, Fiorentina thought they had hit rock bottom when it seemed as if they were scraping a 1-1 home draw in the relegation dogfight with Hellas Verona thanks to a comical own goal. There was still time to grab a shovel and start digging, because Gift Orban was the bearer of bad tidings, completing his brace deep into stoppage time to give Verona victory.

Quick Guide

Serie A results

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Lecce 1-0 Pisa, Torino 1-0 Cremonese, Parma 0-1 Lazio, Atalanta 2-1 Cagliari, Milan 2-2 Sassuolo, Udinese 1-0 Napoli, Fiorentina 1-2 Verona, Genoa 1-2 Inter, Bologna 0-1 Juventus

Monday: Roma v Como

It is hard to overstate just how much trouble the Viola are in. They are now four points adrift of everyone at the foot of the table, eight away from the safety zone. Nobody has ever avoided relegation after going the first 15 rounds without a win. The squad had to be given a police escort to lock them into an “indefinite” training camp, as there has been zero improvement since Paolo Vanoli replaced the sacked Stefano Pioli on 7 November. Their fans had a banner for the visiting Verona supporters offering a friendly bet: “Whoever finishes bottom pays for the drinks.” Better start getting that tab ready.

Susy Campanale writes for Football Italia. Nicky Bandini is away.