AC Milan cut gap to one point as Juventus slip up while Napoli and Udinese are now alone in third after a crazy night of Serie A action.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Needing just two wins from their final three games to guarantee the Scudetto, it appeared that Juventus were half-way there with just 5 minutes remaining in their Wednesday night clash at the Juventus Stadium.
1-0 up through an early Claudio Marchisio goal and facing only 10 men of the relegation-threatened Lecce and with only minutes remaining, you would have expected the efficient and unbeaten Bianconeri to safely see out the game. And you definitely would not have expected the vastly experienced Juventus and Italy No. 1 Gigi Buffon to be the cause of any late drama.
But whether it was down to complacency or the lack of concentration – for in all honesty Gigi had very little to do in this match – Lecce’s Bertolacci somehow managed to relieve Buffon of the ball with five minutes left on the clock and scored a late equaliser to give his side some slim hope of avoiding relegation.
“That’s football,” said Juventus coach Antonio Conte afterwards. “It’s crazy what happened tonight. But we have to have the strength to remain calm and move on.”
No such problems for Milan who saw off Atalanta 2-0 at the San Siro with goals from Sulley Muntari after just nine minutes an an injury-time diving header by substitute Robinho.
Those results mean that Juventus now hold just a one point lead with two round of games remaining. Next up for Conte’s side is an ‘away’ fixture against Cagliari which will be played at Trieste due to a dispute between the Sardinian side and their local council.
Next up for Milan? Just the small matter of an ‘away’ game in the San Siro against city rivals Inter in the final Derby della Madonnina of the season. A 3-1 defeat away to Parma on Wednesday night and a first loss for Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni means that Inter are now 3 points behind in the race for 3rd place and so the Nerazzurri will be desperate for all 3 points and sabotaging Milan’s Scudetto challenge would be just a bonus.
Napoli’s 2-0 win against Palermo on Tuesday night and a 1-0 win for Udinese away to Cesena coupled with Lazio being held by Siena and Parma’s defeat of Inter means that the race for the final Champions League spot seems to be now between Napoli and Udinese who are level on 58 points with the Azzurri having the advantage due to their better head-to-head record.
Meanwhile another poor result for Roma, a 0-0 draw away to Chievo Verona, has prompted fresh speculation about the future of the Giallorossi coach Luis Enrique, with Sporting Director Walter Sabatini saying on Wednesday that he believes the Spaniard has had enough: “That’s what I think and it’s not based on anything he’s said but I believe he’s thinking about leaving,” said Sabatini in an interview screened on Mediaset.
“He doesn’t feel he is being supported, and doesn’t feel he can transfer that support to the team and hence he doesn’t want to unbalance Roma, the team and the club.”
“We want him to stay but if that’s not the case we’ll make another choice. Five minutes after the last match of the season we’ll start planning for the future.”
Results
Chievo Verona 0-0 AS Roma, Napoli 2-0 Palermo, AC Milan 2-0 Atalanta, Catania 0-1 Bologna, Cesena 0-1 Udinese, Fiorentina 2-2 Novara, Genoa 2-1 Cagliari, Juventus 1-1 Lecce, Lazio 1-1 Siena, Parma 3-1 Inter
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