The Serie A title race resumes today with Milan and Inter playing, but claims from Simone Inzaghi and Stefano Pioli seem to suggest that the Scudetto is not a target for either of them.
The race for the title in Italy is the most exciting one in Europe, with Milan, Inter and Napoli only divided by two points. The Rossoneri and the Nerazzurri return to the pitch today, facing Udinese and Genoa respectively.
Inter have a game in hand, so, potentially, they could climb to the top of the table if they win today and beat Bologna in a match that had been rescheduled due to a COVID outbreak in the Rossoblu team in January. Lega Serie A has not yet set a date for the Dall’Ara tie.
Oddly, in an attempt to ease the pressure on their players, both Inzaghi and Pioli suggested yesterday that the Scudetto is not a target for them this season.
“I know that the owners asked me to finish in the top four, qualify for the Champions League Round of 16 and win the Supercoppa,” said the Nerazzurri coach on the eve of their away game at Genoa.
“Our target is to get more points than last season,” added Pioli before Milan-Udinese. “If we win the title, we’ll achieve something exceptional.”
Milan beat Inter in the derby della Madonnina two weeks ago and will meet again next week in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals, which is why their Serie A fixtures are played on Friday.
Allegri: ‘Vlahovic could rest against Empoli, Juve out of title race’
Napoli remain fully involved in the race for the Scudetto and can focus only on the league as they’ve been eliminated from the Coppa Italia and the Europa League.
Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri said at a press conference today that the Old Lady is mathematically out of the race, adding that the potential champion of Italy would need to collect at least 85 points.
“The race for the title in Italy is the most exciting one in Europe”
No, it’s one of the most farcical. If all teams were winning like real champions and it came down to the head-to-head games to decide the winners, then that would be exciting.
But when each team is just randomly banana-slipping their way to losing the title, it makes them all look a bit of a joke.
Everybody’s preparing for the eventual failure.
To be honest, this season reminds me of which when Leicester won EPL. All the big teams are flopping right, left and center and they were the most consistent ones.
@Bugna 2
Exactly right. It looks like it’s going to be won by the best of a bad lot