Welcome back. Serie A recaptures its lost glory as three Italian sides battle for two places in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals and almost certain an Italian team will reach the final. Inter Milano are as good as qualified and Napoli and AC Milan will take it out in a very interesting duel for a ticket to the competition’s top flight.
Napoli are the only team that can relax at the moment in Serie A and they are doing that! Luciano Spalletti’s side has had two defeats in their last four games, both at home, 0-1 against Lazio and 0-4 against AC Milan. Napoli’s long lead at the top of the standings has proved decisive in the race for their third Serie A title. Despite the aforementioned defeats, Napoli have a 16-point lead over Lazio, who are collecting points and consolidating their second position in the Serie A standings.
In between their two Champions League quarter-final matches against AC Milan, Napoli will play 18th-placed Verona, a team who struggles to avoid relegation at home this weekend. Regardless of what the Neapolitan players and officials say about how seriously they approach this clash, it’s clear that for Napoli all resources are detached on the Champions League front, where they’ve never been so high and where they have high hopes!
For Verona a win at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona is a must as the gap to the 17th place, which saves from relegation, now occupied by Spezia, is four points. Spezia, however, also has a very difficult match this weekend at Stadio Alberto Picco as they will receive the visit of Lazio, a team that has left the European cups and is concentrating all its forces for the championship matches. Maurizio Sarri’s side are the big favourites of this encounter.
Lecce and Salernitana are at first glance the only teams that are also involved in the fight to avoid relegation. In 16th place, with 27 points (one above Spezia and five above Verona), Lecce is going through a bad period. The newly promoted Giallorossi have lost six of their last six games! With Marco Baroni still on the bench, the man who promoted the team last summer, Lecce receive this weekend the visit of Sampdoria, last place in Serie A with only 15 points. Victory is a must for Lecce! Salernitana, in 15th place with 29 points, is coming off five consecutive draws, and will play away this round at FC Torino, 11th place, only one point in the last three rounds.
Back to the battle for Europe! Lazio, AS Roma, AC Milan, Inter and Atalanta are still fighting for a Champions League place. After Napoli have already won one of them, three places are still available!
Atalanta’s surprising 2-0 defeat at home to Bologna in the previous round has diminished the Bergamo team chances. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side are sixth in Serie A, three behind Inter (fifth place – 51 points), four behind AC Milan (fourth place – 52 points), five behind AS Roma (third place – 53 points) and ten behind Lazio (second place – 58 points).
Atalanta faces a duel against Fiorentina at Artemio Franchi this weekend. The 1-1 draw with Spezia at home last round has broken Fiorentina’s incredible run of nine consecutive victories in all competitions, because for Fiorentina the Conference League quarter-final against Polish side Lech Poznan seems the priority at the moment!
Inter will play at home against Monza, 13th place with 35 points, a team they didn’t win against in the first leg – it was 2-2 at the Stadio Brianteo. After three defeats and a draw in the last four league games, Inter have struck where nobody expected, in the Champions League. On Tuesday night, Simone Inzaghi’s side defeated Benfica Lisbon right at the Estádio da Luz, 2-0, taking a serious option of qualifying for the semi-finals of the competition. The success in Portugal showed once again the possibilities that Inter Milan have, but which throughout the season has offered oscillating performances.
Between the two Champions League matches against Napoli, AC Milan will play at the weekend at Bologna, a team with a good run of two draws and two wins in the last four rounds. In the last round, Milan surprisingly drew 0-0 at home to Empoli.
After the unbelievable 3-4 defeat at home to Sassuolo and the narrow defeat in the ‘Derby della Capitale’, 0-1 against Lazio, AS Roma have registered two wins: 3-0 against Sampdoria – home and 1-0 against Torino – away. Next up is a home match against Udinese and Roma have the first chance. Besides the UEFA Champions League place, AS Roma is also aiming to win the Europa League this season.
