Another stretch. We will only know if it will be the decisive one in a few days, but in the meantime Juventus have moved up to +6 over Napoli and this, in terms of the Scudetto, would seem to be a fundamental step. The great curiosity of the eve mainly concerned the approach of the bianconeri after the mockery of Madrid, instead it was Sarri's Azzurri who failed, stopped at 0-0 by Gattuso's usually tough Milan.
And so Allegri's 3-0 against Samp has the flavor of match point, even if for that we will have to wait for the coming week, ready to give us a midweek match (Crotone-Juve and Napoli-Udinese) before the big direct match on a Sunday evening.
“I'm happy with the reaction from the boys, winning this match was very important – commented Allegri – The Scudetto, however, is not awarded, Napoli will be in the running as long as the math allows it”.
Statements in perfect harmony with all those released to date, even if the title seems to be increasingly in the safe. Six points with as many days to go is a lot, a lot considering Juve's average, although the calendar still offers chances for a turnaround.
But the bianconeri in the championship version are doing well and do not have the bad luck that accompanies them in Europe: what happened yesterday proves it, with Pjanic injured at the end of the first half and Douglas Costa in his place. It seemed like a problem, but it turned out to be the winning move: the Brazilian, as soon as he entered, served the 1-0 ball to Mandzukic (44'), the doubling to Howedes (60') and the 3- to Khedira 0 final (75').
Goals and entertainment, all that was missing in Milan-Naples. A tense match at San Siro, with two teams very worried about losing and therefore rather reluctant to seek success with all their strength. Sure, the final balance obviously saw some chances but in the end, on balance, 0-0 is the fairest result.
On the shields Donnarumma, man of the match thanks to a crazy save in injury time (93') on Milik, who denied Napoli the 3-point coup. The draw would seem to close the Scudetto speech but the Azzurri still have a chance to play: next Sunday there will be a direct match in Turin, but first we will have to beat Udinese in the midweek and hope, perhaps, for the help of a Crotone forced to look for save points.
“We don't care what Juve does – glossed over Sarri – We are doing our way and well too, unfortunately at the moment we are looking above all at the results but I liked the performance. And in any case, I'm sure we'll fight for it in Turin."
On the Milan front, moderate satisfaction: the Champions League area has now escaped but the Europa League remains in full control. And then, beyond the standings, the good performance against one of the best teams in the championship remains, in perfect harmony with the work done by Gattuso in the second round.
“I'm very happy with how the team interpreted the match – the Rossoneri coach said – I liked the attitude, this performance can raise the bar. We could have won it but also lost it, beyond this, however, we showed great personality".
Wednesday there will be the away match in Turin, a sort of direct clash with a view to the Europa League. The best for this season, with the knowledge that the conditions for growth in the next are all there.
