Overtaking accomplished, albeit with an asterisk. The victory over Empoli allows Inter to return to the top of the championship, waiting for Milan to make their move in Verona. Tomorrow evening, in the postponement of the Bentegodi, the Rossoneri will thus be forced to win, or at least not to lose, even if a draw would completely eliminate the margin of error in the two remaining days. The 4-2 at San Siro, however, showed how pressure can also hurt the Nerazzurri, who were forced to make a maxi comeback to fix an unfortunate start, in which they even feared losing and raising the white flag for the Scudetto. But Friday in the championship was also important in terms of salvation, given that Genoa managed to beat Juventus thanks to a penalty by Criscito in full stoppage time: the Grifone thus remains clinging to the hope of avoiding relegation to B, while the bianconeri have to deal with yet another dull match of the season, although the defeat is completely irrelevant for the of the ranking.
Scudetto race: Inter risk big, Milan forced to win
The Bentegodi match will be tomorrow evening, but we can bet that these hours, at Milan's home, will be anything but light. The end of the championship is still (relatively) far away, yet many have the feeling that the Scudetto, or at least a large part of it, will be decided precisely in the "fatal Verona", a city that certainly does not evoke good memories for the Rossoneri.
Destiny, in fact, wanted the Devil to find Hellas on his way to the Italian flag, already capable of making him lose two: the first in 1973 (5-3), the second in 1990 (2-1), with furious associated arbitration disputes. It is therefore logical that Inter hope for the trio, even if yesterday they seriously risked throwing themselves away, without even waiting for the Bentegodi challenge.
The match against Empoli didn't seem capable of hiding big pitfalls, instead it turned out to be very complicated, even if more because of the Nerazzurri than the Tuscans. Suffice it to say that the match report, in the 40th minute, saw Inzaghi down by two goals (Pinamonti on 5', Asllani on 28') and unable to react, almost as if a strange curse were hovering over the San Siro. Then the wheel has turned, with Inter scoring equalizers in the first half (Romagnoli's own goal in the 40th minute and Lautaro in the 45th minute) and overtaking goals in the second half (Lautaro again in the 64th minute and Sanchez in the 94th minute), but the fear is remained, as well as the feeling of a team far from the security acquired in the past with Conte.
Inzaghi rejoices: "Now let's think about Juve"
“We had a great match apart from the first 20-25 minutes, in which the team had too much desire and enthusiasm – sighed Inzaghi -. We got carried away and we were punished, a team like ours shouldn't concede the first two goals, we didn't keep our distance and we were punished. It's a victory that gives us fuel and a great injection of confidence, now we need to recover energy for Wednesday". Yes, because during the week there will be the Coppa Italia final with Juventus, a secondary objective compared to the championship, but still a very important one: from the "Tripletino" to the fist of flies, in fact, it's a moment, which is why Inter will have the duty to try to win them all, in the hope that Milan don't do the same.
Salvation race: Juve revives Genoa
The other advance on Friday concerned the race for salvation, given that the one for the Champions League had already closed last weekend. Genoa trusted in a Juve that was already full and aiming for the final of the Coppa Italia, a primary goal for them, and somehow they weren't disappointed, even if the victory only came in full recovery, moreover after having risked losing .
In fact, only a few seconds passed between Kean's incredible failed goal into an empty net and Criscito's penalty, but they were absolutely decisive: from a potential 1-2 draw we reached 2-1, with the Rossoblu captain back on the spot after last Saturday's mistake in the derby. Now Genoa is back to breathing a breath of fresh air, waiting for tomorrow's Salernitana-Cagliari: a grenade victory would take away almost all hope (the points behind would become 5, also considering the direct match against), a draw or a victory from Cagliari, on the other hand, they would leave everything open.
On Juve, on the other hand, there is little to say, net of a match that counted for zero for the standings, but once again all the limits were seen in the offensive phase, between sensational mistakes (Kean above all) and attackers forced to turn to empty (Vlahovic).
Allegri: Vlahovic? When he doesn't score, he feels at fault
“It's a pity to lose, even if it counted less in terms of standings – commented Allegri -. We treasure it, Wednesday is the Coppa Italia final and we can't be so wrong. Vlakhovic? He had one of the best races on a technical level since he's been with us, I took him off because I had fresh Morata and I wanted him to catch his breath. I'm very happy with how he played, when he doesn't score he feels at fault, but it doesn't have to be like this: I always tell him, I talk to him, if he always played like this it would be good for the team ”.
Verdicts and Serie B: Lecce and Cremonese in Serie A
It wasn't just played in Serie A, on the contrary: in B there was the last day of the so-called "regular season" which promised excitement and entertainment and expectations, as forecast, were not betrayed. Lecce and Cremonese are promoted directly to the top division, thanks to victories over Pordenone and Como, but also and above all due to the defeat of Monza in Perugia: Berlusconi and Galliani will thus be forced to pass through the gauntlet of the playoffs, in the hope that they will do better than last year.
Even in the queue there was a good tussle to avoid falling into C and they were smiling Cosenza and Vicenza, the first by beating Cittadella, the second by winning the play-off in Alessandria, with the Piedmontese defeated and relegated. One of the two, however, will not celebrate for long: the playout will decide who will be the last team to drop in category, with the Calabrians favorites given the possibility of passing on equal goals between the two legs, by virtue of the best position in the standings .
