The Scudetto validated by Inter Milan last week, the poster between Juventus and AC Milan, its direct pursuers, now concerned the two other places on the podium in Serie A. If successful, the Turin club would have relaunched the race for the runner-up title four days before the end of the season. But in a match that was closed for a long time, the Old Lady did not find the solution to win (0-0) this Saturday. As a result, the positions of the two giants remain frozen in the ranking, with Milan five points ahead.
We had to wait until added time in the first period to see a real opportunity. Replacing at short notice Mike Maignan, who suffered a groin injury during warm-up, Marco Sportiello deflected a free kick from Dusan Vlahovic (45th+2). The usual understudy of the Blues goalkeeper achieved an almost flawless performance by then interjecting several times (50th and 73rd), despite a ball released without damage (86th), to preserve a good result for his team, given the circumstances.
Without suspended Davide Calabria, Theo Hernandez and Fikayo Tomori, the Rossoneri were almost never dangerous, with the exception of a strike from Ruben Loftus-Cheek (65th). Eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, Stefano Pioli’s players, at the end of the cycle, are ending the season through gritted teeth. Finalists of the Italian Cup, the Turinese show another face, more concerned. Without this time having been rewarded.
