The Stadio Bentegodi proved so costly for Milan Scudetto ambitions in the past that it has become known as ‘Fatal Verona’ and Stefano Pioli’s men face that spectre again on Sunday.
With Inter already beating Empoli 4-2, the pressure is now all on the Rossoneri to get the victory and retain their two-point lead at the top of the table.
However, this is arguably the worst possible fixture for the Diavolo to go into at this stage, having already lost the Serie A title twice in this stadium.
The first time Verona proved fatal was in 1973, when Milan went into the final round with a one-point advantage over both Lazio and Torino.
They crumbled and went into the break 3-1 down to Verona, eventually losing 5-3, while Lazio lost to Napoli, so Juventus ended up taking the title 10 days later, their fixture postponed due to the European Cup commitments.
Verona was the graveyard of Milan’s Scudetto ambitions again in 1990, when Arrigo Sacchi and the Grande Milan with stars like Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkard fought it out with Napoli.
This time, Verona was their penultimate fixture and the giants had gone in front with a Marco Simone free kick.
Hellas equalised, Sacchi, Rijkaard and Van Basten were all sent off and Verona snatched victory in the final minute with Davide Pellegrini.
Alessandro ‘Billy’ Costacurta saw red too for dissent, just to complete the disaster, and Diego Armando Maradona’s Napoli took the title.
I hope Verona will beat Milan tomorrow
3rd time lucky I guess
Milan will win by 2 nil…that’s 2 goals to Milan and 0 to Verona…Milan is predestined to win the scudetto because intermilan will lose against cagliari while Milan wins all their remaining fixtures.
Milan will definitely bag the three points.
tricky match this one… but still Milan has the desire and quality to make it happen. Forza Milan!