Inter and Milan were both held to draws in Serie A on Sunday ahead of next weekend’s Derby della Madonnina, which could officially confirm the league championship for Simone Inzaghi’s side.
Milan fought back to earn a 3-3 draw with Sassuolo, having fallen 2-0 behind after just 10 minutes of action at the Mapei Stadium. It was not a particularly inspiring display from the Rossoneri, but there were bigger fish to fry at the time for Stefano Pioli and his team.
Over the course of the next week, Milan will have to play against Roma, and need a two-goal victory in regular time, or a one-goal win and then victory on penalties, if they are to progress to the Europa League semi-finals.
Then, there is the important matter of stopping Inter from winning the Scudetto in their home match next weekend. It was likely a case of priorities for Pioli and his men, but they will need to put in a set of convincing performances to make up for their shortcomings against Sassuolo.
In terms of the positives for Milan, Rafael Leao looked back to his best and scored a wonderful individual goal for Milan’s first. Samuel Chukwueze also put in an encouraging shift and was unfortunate to have a pair of goals ruled out for offside.
The Milan midfield, however, particularly Ruben Loftus-Cheek, did not look up to their sharpest, and supporters will be hoping that it may have been a case of preserving energy ahead of an important run of fixtures next week.
Inter, meanwhile, were without the division’s top scorer in Lautaro Martinez for their 2-2 draw against Cagliari. Alexis Sanchex and Marcus Thuram put in a decent shift in the opening 45 minutes, but the Nerazzurri lacked the cutting edge when they needed a third goal late on.
It is unlikely that Inzaghi will make too many changes to his side for next Monday’s derby, other than the return of Lautaro Martinez and potentially Benjamin Pavard, who also missed out through suspension.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who was at risk of suspension, was brought off relatively early on, and Hakan Calhanoglu, who grabbed Inter’s second goal from the penalty spot, is going to be pivotal against his former side as he looks to finally secure the first Scudetto of his career.