AC Milan’s chances of successfully defending their Serie A title this season were already quite remote before this weekend’s big derby against Inter.
But defeat to their city rivals is likely the final nail in the coffin of their title defence as they are now down in sixth place, 18 points adrift of runaway leaders Napoli.
Speaking of Napoli, they maintained their 13-point lead from Inter with another convincing victory thanks in large part to the red-hot Victor Osimhen, who is arguably the hottest striker in Europe at the moment.
Paulo Dybala has been right up there with Osimhen as he has helped prop up Roma’s push for a Champions League spot – and possibly higher.
Read on below as SBOTOP lists down the three top takeaways from the latest round of Serie A fixtures.
Milan title hopes truly dead after derby defeat
Any hopes AC Milan still might have had of successfully defending their Serie A crown are most likely dead and buried after their 1-0 derby defeat to Inter Milan.
A first-half Lautaro Martinez strike was enough to sink Milan, who were decidedly second-best in the match and did not have a single shot on target.
Milan’s disastrous stretch of Serie A 2023 results since the season restart continues. They are now without a win in their last five games (seven in all competitions) and have lost their last three on the bounce.
That horrific run of form leaves Milan in sixth place, 18 points behind leaders Napoli with 17 rounds remaining.
Even if Milan had won the derby, they would still have been 15 points adrift, and the Serie A 2023 odds of them overturning such a lead would still have been quite remote.
But with another demoralising defeat in the Milan derby extending the deficit further, this feels like a fitting time to pronounce the title defence of Stefano Pioli’s side well and truly dead.
Osimhen the hottest striker in Europe
While nothing seems to be going right at Milan, Victor Osimhen and Napoli can seemingly do no wrong. The Nigerian continued his sizzling form as he scored a brace in Napoli’s 3-0 win at Spezia.
Osimhen has now scored 7 goals in 6 Serie A games since the break and is now on 16 goals on the season to lead the Capocannoniere race by a comfortable margin.
It’s safe to say that in the form he’s in at the moment, Victor Osimhen is currently the hottest striker in all of Europe. Yes, above Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe, or even Erling Haaland.
Osimhen was one of the hottest striker prospects in Europe even before his recent hot run of form, and Napoli will surely struggle to hold onto him in the summer.
But if Osimhen can continue his brilliant form to the end of the season and lead Napoli to their long-awaited Scudetto, then he will forever be a legend in Naples whatever happens.
Roma have real shot at second
Roma bounced back from quite a rough week – one that saw them lose away to Napoli in the league and at home to Cremonese in the Coppa Italia – as they beat Empoli 2-0. Paulo Dybala bagged a brace of assists to keep the Romans right there in the hunt for a top-four spot.
But Jose Mourinho’s side should be aiming much higher than fourth. With Milan collapsing and Juventus out of the running after getting slapped with a 15-point penalty, the road is wide open for the Giallorossi to go as high as second this season.
Paulo Dybala has been in sparkling form since winning the World Cup with Argentina. La Joya has been involved in 7 of Roma’s 9 goals over their last 6 games (3 goals, 4 assists). Meanwhile, Tammy Abraham has finally rediscovered his form after a slow start to the season.
With Nicolo Zaniolo’s relationship with Mourinho and the club wrecked after his failed transfer in the winter, Dybala and Abraham will be crucial in keeping Roma in the hunt. But there are few duos better than those two in all of Serie A, so Roma are very much in with a shout.
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