Juventus are now the odds-on to claim the Scudetto this week while four clubs are locked in a nail-biting battle for the final Champions League spot.
“We’re in front of a laid table, and after having attended other sides’ banquets, our hunger has grown,” Juve coach Antonio Conte was quoted as saying by his club’s official website after their 1-0 victory against Cesena at the Dino Manuzzi last week.
“Juve deserve to be where they are because they are doing important things and have gone away from us after the games against Fiorentina and Bologna. We can only hope that they’ll slow down,” AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri added prior to this weekend’s round of matches.
Unfortunately for Allegri and his Milan side, Juve played out their own version of The Hunger Games with a 4-0 victory over Novara, their eight win in a row, and while the Rossoneri kept their challenge alive with a 4-1 victory over Siena, it would require a spectacular collapse by the Bianconeri to let this title slip from their grasp.
3 points ahead with three games remaining, Juventus know that their head-to-head advantage over Milan means that two wins will guarantee their first, unstripped, title since 2002-03. As their remaining three fixtures involve Lecce at home, Cagliari ‘away’ followed by Atalanta at home, the 6 points target should be reached.
Even their ‘away’ game against Cagliari next weekend will be played at the Nereo Rocco in Trieste, a full 600 miles away from the Rossoblu home in Sardinia, thanks to a dispute between Cagliari and their local council, meaning that there should be far more Juventus fans in attendance for that potentially title-confirming encounter.
“We are ahead and are masters of our own destiny,” Conte said after Sunday’s 4-0 win.
“When people talk about Juventus there is always someone trying to put a spanner in the works,” he said. “In this campaign, in which we are still unbeaten, there has always been a but. First it was the draws that were brought up, then they spoke about the lack of goals from our forwards.
“But this just gave us extra drive to succeed, which together with our day-to-day improvement as a team, is helping us achieve something extraordinary. Wednesday (against Lecce) will be the game of our lives.”
Of some small comfort to Milan was the return to the starting line-up of ‘Fantantonio’ Cassano who made his first start since recovering from the effects of an emergency heart procedure last November. Cassano scored one goal and created two others while Gennaro Gattuso, making his third Serie A appearance since overcoming a career-threatening eye problem, was back to his usual combative self in the Milan midfield.
“Cesare Prandelli (Italy coach) take note: the real Antonio Cassano is back,” wrote Luca Calamai in Monday’s Gazzetta dello Sport, a development that won’t be lost on Giovanni Trapattoni either.
Following his goal, the attacker rushed to embrace Dr Rodolfo Tavano, who treated the forward after the stroke he suffered while returning home from last October’s clash with Roma.
“Dr. Tavana was fundamental to Antonio and he knows what he has done for him that night. Their embrace was beautiful and meaningful,” declared Milan CEO Adriano Galliani.
Somewhat surprisingly, Milan plan to debut their new 2012-13 home shirt in Wednesday’s Serie A game clash with Atalanta at the San Siro – a loss that night along with a Juventus win would rubber-stamp the loss of their status as champions, hardly the most auspicious start for their new kit – so expect Milan to take the battle until next weekend at least.
Inter revival
However, Milan won’t be happy to find their city rivals Inter will be then standing in their way in what would be an ‘away’ tie for the Rossoneri. Apart from local pride and the Derby della Madonnina bragging rights, Inter might well be miraculously still in the chase for the final Champions League qualifying spot following a recovery of sorts under their interim coach.
The temporary Nerazzurri coach Andrea Stramaccioni joked that his “12 agents” are currently negotiating a new contract for him amidst reports that he is to be offered the job on a full-time basis.
His deal only runs until the end of the season but with Inter undefeated in their last 6 games since he replaced Claudio Ranieri at the helm last month, speculation is mounting that the club’s former Primavera boss will be allowed to stay on.
Inter are currently level on 55 points with Napoli, Udinese and Lazio in the fight for 3rd with those last two teams playing out a bizarre final few minutes in this weekend’s clash at Udinese’s Stadio Friuli.
Udinese’s Roberto Pereyra scored a 90th minute second for the Zebrette after the Lazio players believed that the referee had already blown for full time and so had stopped playing.
“I’m sorry that it ended this way. The game should have been stopped,” said the Udinese manager Francesco Guidolin – who claimed not to have heard the phantom whistle at the time. “But there were 13 seconds left. We would have won anyway.”
Since the game, Lazio goalkeeper Federico Marchetti has been banned for four matches and defender Andre Dias for three games for their part in the post-match protests. Marchetti pushed referee Bergonzi in a heated argument, while Dias protested to the fourth official. With Lazio still in the fight for that third place, those bans could be costly.
However, Lazio’s city rivals Roma unwittingly assisted their cause by holding Napoli to a 2-2 with an 87th minute equaliser from Simplicio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday night. Before that goal, the atmosphere inside the Olimpico was laced with anger as the Ultras of the Curva Sud chanted for the Roma manager, Luis Enrique, to be sacked.
Following his goal, Simplicio raced off towards one of the stands but thankfully for the safety of all present, it was to share a kiss with his son Jordan and wife Elaine, rather than to seek confrontation with the Ultras.
Following the final whistle, the players were ‘summoned’ to the Curva Sud to hear the fans’ protests. Club icon Francesco Totti, perhaps alone in being safe from the fans’ ire, led the way but was unmoved by the supporters’ demands that he bring them Enrique, who had headed straight down the tunnel at full-time. The manager himself would insist afterwards that it was not the manager’s place to get involved in such situations.
“I didn’t go because I have a clear idea about what it means to be a manager,” he said. “If something good happens I will disappear quickly then too – because football belongs to the footballers.
“Even if we had won 10 games in a row I wouldn’t have gone. Celebrations are for the players. Plus in a situation like this one, with the fans so disappointed, it could have been read as a provocation.”
And so we witnessed one of Enrique’s best tactical decisions of the season.
Results
Novara 2-1 Lazio, AS Roma 1-2 Fiorentina, Lecce 0-2 Napoli, Palermo 1-2 Parma, Siena 1-1 Bologna, Udinese 1-3 Inter, AC Milan 1-0 Genoa, Cesena 0-1 Juventus, Cagliari 0-0 Chievo Verona, Palermo 1-1 Catania, AS Roma 2-2 Napoli, Bologna 3-2 Genoa, Atalanta 2-0 Fiorentina, Inter 2-1 Cesena, Lecce 1-2 Parma, Novara 0-4 Juventus, Siena 1-4 AC Milan, Udinese 2-0 Lazio
Fixtures
Tuesday, May 1
Chievo Verona 0-0 AS Roma
Napoli 2-0 Palermo
Wednesday, May 2
Genoa v Cagliari
AC Milan v Atalanta
Catania v Bologna
Cesena v Udinese
Fiorentina v Novara
Juventus v Lecce (Live Setanta Ireland 19.45)
Lazio v Siena
Parma v Inter
Saturday, May 5
Lecce v Fiorentina
AS Roma v Catania
Sunday, May 6
Siena v Parma
Atalanta v Lazio
Bologna v Napoli
Cagliari v Juventus
Novara v Cesena
Palermo v Chievo Verona
Udinese v Genoa
Inter v AC Milan (Live Setanta Ireland 19.45)
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
