Despite Sunday night’s stinging 4-0 defeat at home to AC Milan, Napoli are cruising towards their first league title after a 33-year break. Napoli have suffered their third defeat of the season, but still have a reassuring lead (16 points) over second-placed Inter.
Napoli should now focus on their UEFA Champions League quarter-final clashes, which is Napoli’s first appearance in this phase of the competition. Sunday night’s clash at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona was just the warm-up match for the quarter-finals. Napoli and AC Milan will battle it out for a place in the semi-finals of the world’s biggest inter-club competition in a double-header on 12 April in Milan and 18 April in southern Italy.
The win over Napoli allowed Milan to return on a position in the standings that will take them to next year’s Champions League group stage. Stefano Pioli’s side also ended a run of three matches without a win. This weekend, Milan will play at home against Empoli, a team that occupies a safe-from-relegation place in the Serie A standings. Napoli will play vs Lecce.
Lazio are holding on! The Romans beat Monza 0-2 away and are four points clear of third place, now occupied by AC Milan. Lazio, however, have a tough match this round in which their good form will be put to the test by Juventus Torino.
Inter Milan are not in their best form. Having also qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where they will face Benfica Lisbon, Inter have now suffered their third consecutive Serie A defeat at home to Fiorentina, their fourth in the last five rounds! This weekend Inter plays away against Salernitana, a team unbeaten in the last five rounds (one win followed by four draws).
Tortured, but deserved – that’s how you could characterise AS Roma’s 3-0 home win over Sampdoria at the weekend. It was a win that keeps Jose Mourinho’s side in the hunt for a Champions League spot. Roma will start matchday 29 having the same number of points as Inter Milan and will play away against 11th-placed AC Torino, a team they failed to beat in the away leg at the Olimpico, where they drew 1-1.
As for the fight to avoid relegation, three teams are pinned in the last three relegation places: Verona, Sampdoria and Cremonese, the last two being as good as relegated. The results of this matchday could increase the gap between the relegation places and the first place that ensures salvation, 17th, now occupied by Spezia. In this round Spezia will play at Fiorentina, Sampdoria will meet Cremonese and Verona will play against Sassuolo.
