Milan doesn't give up, Juve does. Sunday in the championship saw the Rossoneri conquer Florence and close on Inter, albeit awaiting the recovery against Sassuolo, but above all the clamorous fall of the Bianconeri against Benevento, which marks, barring incredible twists, the end of an era after nine years of success. The rest of the cover belongs by right to Napoli, capable of beating Roma in the direct match at the Olimpico, but also to Atalanta and Lazio, in turn winners on the fields of Verona and Udinese.
But let's proceed in order of classification and start from the most important Milan's success, capable of getting the better of a good comeback Fiorentina despite the post-Manchester fatigue. When Ribery, at the beginning of the second half, had signed the Viola 2-1, many had thought that the Rossoneri were unable to react, instead all the character of a group as hungry as few came out. Compared to the knockouts with Napoli and, in part, United, there was one more Ibrahimovic and the effects were seen after just 9' when the Swede, served by Kjaer, started on the edge of offside beating Dragowski.
But the Viola were in a battle day and so, after a few minutes, Pulgar equalized (17'), which was followed by a splendid back-heel post hit by Pezzella. Less spectacular, but still valuable, the crossbar taken shortly after by Ibra, demonstrating a very open match, which even improved in the second half. In the 51st minute Ribery found the pass with a surgical left, sending Milan to the brink of the abyss; however, Brahim Diaz and Calhanoglu took care of pulling him out, the first with the tap-in of the equalizer following the development of a corner (57 '), the second with the splendid right foot of the Rossoneri counter-overtaking, which is worth the second place alone (72 ').
"The disappointment for leaving the Europa League was strong, we wanted to go on but the two performances gave us more motivation and confidence - the analysis of Pioli – This was perhaps the most difficult race, the boys scraped the barrel to find all possible strength. Scudetto? Ibra is right to talk about it, we have to try to win them all, our future depends on us, we have the qualities to try and win every single race".
But the most sensational result on Sunday is certainly that of Turin, which in all probability puts an end to comeback dreams of the Juve. After all, talking about the Scudetto after what happened yesterday would be at least inappropriate, especially since the standings don't even give the certainty of a place in the Champions League. It seems incredible after 9 years of triumphs, but the Lady is dangerously raising the white flag 10 days early, unable as she is to beat teams like Inzaghi's Benevento, compact and courageous, mind you, but still clearly inferior. Yesterday then there wasn't even the excuse of tiredness, given the week empty of commitments, or absences, in the light of a very offensive 4-2-4 with Kulusevski, Morata, Ronaldo and Chiesa all on the pitch at the same time. In short, the ingredients to go minus 7 from Inter were all there, instead it was Benevento who celebrated, capable of closing all the gates and striking at the right moment with Gaish, sent on goal by a crazy horizontal pass from Arthur (69').
We would then have to talk about the referee Abisso and the penalty, which appeared rather clear, not granted due to a suspicious contact between Foulon and Chiesa, but the episode, however important, is not enough to cancel the bad performance, perhaps the worst of all season. In other times, with such a ranking and the elimination from the Champions League round of XNUMX, one would already be talking about a technical revolution, but at the moment the club seems to be on Pirlo's side, even if it is clear that the pass for Europe that counts it is absolutely mandatory.
“We are convinced of him, but no more mistakes,” he thundered Paratici, while the person concerned pointed the finger at the mentality of his players. "We must continue to believe in it, to work to try to always be there – he explained at the press conference – The goal is always the same, but the attitude must change: we wear an important shirt and it must always be honoured".
But more than thinking about who's ahead, it's time to watch your back, especially after yesterday's results. In fact, everyone is running behind, except for one Roma which, once again, proves to be small in the presence of an opponent of the same level, at least on paper. The direct clash of the Olimpico saw the prevail deservedly the Naples, today potentially ahead of Juve: if he were to win on 7 April, in fact, he would overtake them in the standings, even finishing in third place. Thanks to Mertens, who found himself with a brace (27', 34') precisely on the most important night, the one in which a season could be decided. But more generally, the Azzurri have been growing for some time, as demonstrated by the 5 victories collected in the last 6 games, the last two with Milan and Rome, without conceding a goal. In short, the much-reviled Gattuso once recovered some key men (see, in fact, Mertens), managed to get up and is now running quickly towards the main goal of the season.
However, the Champions fight is by far the most exciting in recent years, given that there are also members of the group Atalanta and Lazio, both winners in their respective away matches in Verona and Udine. The Bergamo players conquered the Bentegodi with goals from Malinovskyi on penalties (33') and Zapata (42'), despite the post-Madrid tiredness and several important absences, above all that of Gosens.
“It was undoubtedly a good test, against an excellent team that had put many in difficulty in this championship – commented by Gasperini – We remain in the upper areas of the standings and send a signal to everyone”.
The same can also be said for the Lazio, in turn recovering from the disappointment of Monaco but able to redeem himself in Udine. The 3 points signed by Marusic (37') are very heavy, because it shouldn't be forgotten that the Biancocelesti still have to recover the match against Turin: by winning it, even if at the moment we don't even know when it will be played, their ranking would become even more interesting. making everything unpredictable as never before.
