In a battle between two of Italian football’s biggest juggernauts, AC Milan were able to spring quite the surprise as they ran out 3-0 winners over reigning Serie A champions Juventus. The visitors scored late in the first half to take the lead and then in the second, managed to consolidate their advantage to give themselves a huge boost in the top four race.
Milan’s resilience
After initially being seen as the leading title contenders in Italy this season, AC Milan have fallen massively off of the pace in the second half of the campaign. The big worry from supporters was that they’d lose all control, of their push for a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League but instead, things are actually starting to look up for them again. Between this win and the remainder of their fixtures, it’s not unfeasible to think they could end up finishing in second place.
The Serie A unpredictability
English football may be at the forefront right now with the Premier League having three representatives across the two European finals this season, but Serie A is really starting to gather some pace. Alongside many of the other top tier sides who are mixing it up in the top six, Juventus and AC Milan aren’t going to be guaranteed a single thing from here on out. They need to scratch and claw for every point and as we look ahead to the future, it feels as if that trend isn’t going to slow down anytime soon.
Juve’s struggles
Juventus have been the top dogs in Italy for so long now that it’s kind of unsettling to see them down in fifth place with three games left of the Serie A season. Of course, their rivals aren’t quite going to share that view, but it’s definitely worth looking into why they’ve been so poor both domestically and in Europe. They have just a handful of fixtures left to change their fortunes with champions Inter Milan being one of them, and if they don’t, they can probably say goodbye to any hope they had of keeping Cristiano Ronaldo beyond the summer.
Match Report
Juventus: Szczesny (5), Sandro (6), Chiellini (5), de Ligt (6), Cuadrado (6.5), Chiesa (6), Rabiot (6), Bentancur (6.5), McKennie (6), Ronaldo (6), Morata (6), Kulusevski (6), Dybala (6)
AC Milan: Donnarumma (7), Calabria (7), Kjaer (7.5), Tomori (9), Hernandez (8), Kessie (7), Bennacer (7.5), Saelemaekers (7), Diaz (7), Calhanoglu (8), Ibrahimovic (7), Dalot (6), Meite (6), Rebic (7), Krunic (6.5)
Referee: Paolo Valeri
Goals: Diaz, Rebic, Tomori
Yellow Cards: Chiellini, Chiesa, Saelemaekers, Diaz
Red Cards: N/A
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