Things are getting much more interesting at the top as Serie A hits the halfway point of the season. The top two – Milan and Inter – have picked up disappointing results to start the year, which means Juventus are still right there in the hunt for another Scudetto.
Meanwhile, Atalanta and Lazio have both made their way back into the mix for the Champions League places as they’ve dramatically improved their form of late.
Get all caught up with what went down in the latest round of Serie A as SBOTOP shares its key takeaways from Matchday 19.
Milan clubs stumbling out of the gate in 2021
Milan and Inter are still ahead of the pack by a comfortable distance – second-placed Inter are 4 points clear of third-placed Roma – and the Serie A 2021 betting odds still have them among the favourites for the title. But both sides dropped points once again this weekend as they’ve started 2021 in less than stellar form.
Milan’s heavy 3-0 loss at home to Atalanta was at least somewhat understandable given their COVID-related absences. But still, they were significantly outplayed by Atalanta, which should raise one or two concerns.
Meanwhile, a full-strength Inter side failed to capitalise as they were held to a goalless draw by struggling Udinese. The Nerazzurri’s Serie A 2021 results have been quite disappointing. They have now won just once in their last four games, and those dropped points could very well come back to bite them in the end.
While Milan have a relatively easy next couple of weeks as they face Bologna, and relegation strugglers Crotone and Spezia, Inter have tricky tests against midtable sides Benevento and Fiorentina.
Needless to say, Antonio Conte’s side must take care of business in order to maintain their title challenge.
Juventus remain in the title hunt
The Milan clubs’ recent wobbles have kept the door open for reigning champions Juventus, who remain within striking distance. The Bianconeri bounced back from their 2-0 defeat to Inter by beating Bologna 2-0 thanks to goals from Arthur and Weston McKennie.
Despite that convincing performance, though, there are still one or two question marks surrounding Juve. Andrea Pirlo continues to tinker with his team seemingly from game to game, and it’s fair to ask whether he even knows what his best XI is half-way through the season.
But even with these concerns, Juve could go up to third — two points back of Inter — if they win their game in hand. And with the undeniable talents of Cristiano Ronaldo leading the way, the Old Lady is almost sure to be right there with the two Milan clubs until the very end.
Battle for last Champions League spot becoming fierce
Barring some unforeseen event, it looks as if Milan, Inter, and Juventus will be the three teams battling it out for the title.
That leaves just one Champions League spot left for as many as four teams – Roma, Atalanta, Napoli and Lazio – to fight over.
Atalanta and Lazio have finally found their best form of late after rocky starts to the season. After back-to-back draws, Atalanta completely outplayed Milan at the San Siro. Josip Ilicic was absolutely brilliant as he’s gotten back to the world-class level he’d been playing in before last year’s lockdown.
Meanwhile, Lazio’s Ciro Immobile is simply incredible. The reigning Capocannoniere is now second in the scoring charts as he fired home his 13th goal of the season to lead Lazio to a 2-1 win over Sassuolo, which is their fourth victory in a row.
As it so happens, the two clubs will now meet twice in the space of a few days in the cup and in the league, which should be a terrific battle between two of the most in-form clubs at the moment.
As for Roma and Napoli, they have a few issues to deal with at the moment.
Roma have looked wobbly after back-to-back defeats to Lazio in the derby and Spezia in the cup. And they needed a last-minute winner to beat Spezia 4-3 in the league.
Paulo Fonseca has done a fine job to date, but he has some work to do if the Giallorossi are to remain in the hunt for a Champions League spot.
The same goes for Gennaro Gattuso at Napoli. After their 6-0 hammering of Fiorentina, Gli Azzurri suffered a 3-1 defeat away to Verona, which once again halted their positive momentum.
Napoli just haven’t been able to build much consistency in the league this season. But the talent and the players are clearly there, and it’ll be up to Gattuso to put those pieces together in the second half of the season.
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