History repeats itself. Milan misses the appointment with the victory against Udinese, but immediately after Inter also fails to beat Genoa: and so, just like a week ago, the positions in the standings remain unchanged, although the appeal is missing Napoli again, expected tomorrow evening from the away match in Rome with Lazio.
MIilan-Udinese 1-1: the analysis of the match
Milan had to win at all costs to give life to their Scudetto ambitions, however, just like in Salerno, they didn't succeed, ending up being wrapped up by Udinese. A dull performance that of the Rossoneri, unable to give rhythm and intensity right from the start, managing to make themselves dangerous only thanks to the individual plays of some elements.
Except for Leao, the only one of the attackers to save himselfHowever, Pioli's team never found the right spark, and if the Portuguese had been enough against Sampdoria, the same did not happen yesterday, where the 1-0 (29') leg was not enough. In fact, in the second half Milan dropped in a worrying way, ending up crushed by pressure from Udinese, determined to leave San Siro with a positive result.
The right episode arrived in the 66th minute, even if on goal by Udogie there is a rather big referee error: the Juventus player deflects the ball into the net with his left arm, but nobody, neither on the pitch nor in the Var, noticed it. In any case, the result is fair, also because the Rossoneri, in the next half hour, were unable to create practically anything, limiting themselves to a half-lob from the usual Leao, a couple of serpentines from Saelemaekers and a close shot from Romagnoli which was rejected from Silvestri.
And so Udinese, once the match was wrapped up, had to do nothing but let the clock go by, however coming close to winning in full stoppage time with a right hand of Deulofeu saved by Maignan. Too little to take the 3 points, and if the Scudetto dream is still alive, we only have to thank Blessin's Genoa, capable of stopping Inter on a draw.
Pioli's words
“Udogie's goal is not a doubtful episode, the Udinese player scores with his hand – Pioli blurted out -. It's okay that the referee didn't see it because there were so many players up front, but it's difficult for the Var not to see it. it is a serious mistake who decided the final outcome. We certainly didn't play an exceptional game, but the mistakes are evident and in addition there were 45 minutes of effective play, this is not possible in modern football, the responsibility lies with whoever directs the match. Now let's think about doing better, because we have the possibility".
Genoa-Inter 0-0: the analysis of the match
If Athens weeps, Sparta does not laugh. Yes, because Inter took care of restoring morale to Milan who came out furious from San Siro, stopped at 0-0 by Marassi from Genoa. Blessin confirms himself as a draw specialist (5 out of 5), but beyond the absolutely undeniable merits of the rossoblu, it is the nerazzurri who have once again shown surprising limits.
The goal machine seen until Christmas, in fact, got stuck and now we can no longer speak of chance: the opportunities are there, but nobody throws them in. And so opponents gain courage, just like Genoa seen yesterday, driven by that mix of desperation and recklessness already seen in Salerno a week ago.
However, here it was not Milan but Inzaghi's Inter, who even risked going under in the first half: Gudmumdsson he literally devoured the 1-0 ball, a minute after that Calhanoglu he had done the same. The match continued at a pleasant and interesting pace, with the Nerazzurri gaining ground as time went by, so much so that they ended up boarding. However, Inzaghi, despite the final trident with Dzeko, Lautaro and Caicedo, was unable to win the contest, thus leaving precious points on the Marassi lawn in terms of the Scudetto. Of course, Milan continues to make mistakes and the games remain open, but Napoli could take advantage of it and greatly complicate the race for the Italian champions.
Inzaghi's words
“It's normal that the result leaves a bad taste in our mouths – Inzaghi's words -. We could have approached the match better, we knew we'd find a healthy team that created some problems for us in the first 20 minutes, then we deserved more. We shot 20 times on goal, but we can't score anymore, we have to do better but without giving up. We are disappointed with the result, the performance was there but we haven't won in the league for a long time, we have to get back to it as soon as possible. Sorry for the fans who supported us until the 95th minute, but they must be proud of what we have done this season: we won the Super Cup, we are in the last XNUMX of the Champions League and first in the league since October".
Empoli-Juventus (18pm Dazn)
Today, however, it's Juventus' turn, which finds the championship atmosphere again after the draw in Vila-Real. A 1-1, the one on Spanish soil, which matches the last two drawn with Atalanta and Turin, for a triptych certainly not to be thrown away, but not even in line with the club's coat of arms and ambitions. They thought about making everything less bitter Gasperini's people from Bergamo losing in Florence, but now it's urgent to return to victory and the away game in Empoli could be the right occasion. The Tuscans play good football and already in the first leg they managed to beat the Lady, moreover at her home, but they haven't won in 10 games and are certainly not in their best moment: in short, the 3 points are almost mandatory .
Allegri's words
“We lost in the first leg and Empoli are a difficult team to beat, but we need to be aware that we have to win – Allegri confirmed in the press conference -. You have to play a heavy game, against Villarreal we managed to take advantage of the width of the pitch, but here it will be different. How many points do you need to get to the Champions League? I won't tell you, but since we're out of the Scudetto race, I can talk about that: 85 points will be enough to win it, but we can't get there. How come we score few goals? If we had known, we would have solved the problem…”.
The formations
The Juventus coach is grappling with various absences, eight to be precise: in fact, Alex Sandro, Rugani, Kaio Jorge and McKennie have also joined the usual Chiesa, Chiellini, Bernardeschi and Dybala, the latter forced to stop for at least 60 days. In short, the turnover will be limited and never mind if there is Wednesday Coppa Italia semi-final first leg with Fiorentina: today's 3 points are just as important, which is why Allegri will ask his team to grit their teeth, thus setting up a 4-4-2 with Szczesny in goal, Danilo, De Ligt, Bonucci and Pellegrini in defense, Cuadrado , Zakaria, Arthur and Rabiot in midfield, Vlahovic and Kean in attack.
Andreazzoli, without victories since last December 10 (0-1 in Naples), will respond with a 4-3-1-2 that will see Vicario between the posts, Stojanovic, Romagnoli, Viti and Parisi in the back department, Zurkowski, Asllani and Bandinelli in the midfield, Bajrami behind the offensive duo made up of Henderson and Pinamonti.
