Roberto Mancini’s Inter Milan grabbed two impressive victories in a matter of seven days to take them within three points of Serie A European football. The 2 – 1 win against the third place Roma on Saturday has made them genuine contenders for the finish among the top teams in the country.
Juventus bounced back from the defeat at Torino with a 3 – 2 win over Fiorentina on Wednesday. The Italian champions can possibly retain their title in the next league match. Massimiliano Allegri wants to go into the Champions League semi-final first leg against Real Madrid after being crowned the champions of Italy.
“It’s important to go into it [the Real Madrid match] as Italian champions. The squad is fit so the best team will play [at Sampdoria],” he said. “We’re calm. We know we have the chance to reach the historic milestone of four consecutive Scudetti; four for the players, the club and the fans, and my first as coach of Juventus.”
The Juventus coach is however wary of the threat Sampdoria will offer at the weekend.
He said, “Sampdoria will be aggressive and alert. It’ll be tough for us because they’re very strong at home. It was 1-1 in the reverse game, but we dominated, particularly the first half.
“That teaches us that games are never over until they’re over. We’ve reached the finishing line and now it’s time to cross it.”
Carlos Tevez scored a brace in the midweek win, keeping him at the top of goal scorers chart in Italy. The Argentine has scored 20 goals after 33 matches, while Luca Toni of Hellas Verona and Mauro Icardi of Internazionale are just two goals behind him. The Argentine has scored 20 goals after 33 matches, while Luca Toni of Hellas Verona and Mauro Icardi of Internazionale are just two goals behind him.
Lazio registered an impressive victory with a 4 – 0 win over the bottom club Parma. Parma can’t mathematically climb out of the relegation zone now as 17th place Atalanta are 16 points ahead of Parma. Cagliari and Cesena, both at 24 points, are eight points behind Atalanta and with five games remaining it isn’t out of the equation yet.
Roma defeated the hosts Sassuolo 0 – 3, after the loss at San Siro against Roma. Napoli suffered a setback this week as Empoli overpowered Rafael Benitez’s side in the midweek games. A total of three own goals were scored during the ninety minutes at Empoli. The Naples based side are five points behind the third place Roma.
AC Milan suffered two back to back losses. With new ownership deal to be finalized soon, we can see a lot of changes at the club in near future. The Italian giants can be revived and it is possible that they might return to the European scene very soon.