Juventus have held the Italian league title for 9 seasons and Milan topped the standings until the middle of the current season, but the two teams enter the new round of matches as they fight to end the season in the golden box.
Everything was rosy against Milan, who had not lost their first 15 league matches this season, to be crowned “Winter Champion”, a mid-season title that is seriously considered in Italy due to a historical precedent.
Since the number of league teams increased to 20 in 2004, only twice the winter champion failed to win the title, which was Napoli in the 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 seasons, but Milan, led by coach Stefano Pioli, became another exception after its spectacular collapse.
Milan is now ranked fifth, 13 points behind leaders Inter Milan, after losing 5 times since being crowned winter champion, and behind one of the teams that tried to create the separatist Super League last week, Juventus, who also has 66 points.
Things did not go as planned by young Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo for this season.
The former Juventus midfielder was seeking to achieve the tenth title in a row for Juventus, but his team performed poorly in their defense of the title and did not appear at all in the competition race. The pressure on Pirlo increased after again early in the Champions League.
Sixth-placed Lazio are 5 points behind Milan and Juventus, but they have one more game left in the burning race for the golden box seats. Only two points separate second-placed Atlanta from fifth-placed AC Milan.
It is possible that Milan and Juventus will fail to finish the season in the golden box, with Lazio winning 6 of the last seven games in the league, which means that there is no room for more faltering. Advertising
Milan will play at home against Benevento, who is in the relegation zone, on Saturday, and Juventus will visit Udinese on Sunday. These confrontations do not seem difficult on paper, but the two teams wasted points against teams less than them in the ranking recently; The fans are therefore anxious ahead of the next round of matches.
There is no such concern at Inter, who are heading towards their first league title in 11 years.
Inter can clinch the title in this round if coach Antonio Conte’s side defeats modest Crotone tomorrow and Atlanta fails to defeat Sassuolo on Sunday