Football
The Serie A title fight continues: Napoli and Inter face off on foreign turf, AC Milan take on Empoli at home
In Italy, the battle for the championship continues in a heated and all the more attractive way. AC Milan play Empoli at home, while Napoli and Inter have to travel. Will the 29th round of the Italian top flight shake up the standings?
In Italy, the battle for the championship continues in a heated and all the more attractive way. AC Milan play Empoli at home, while Napoli and Inter have to travel. Will the 29th round of the Italian top flight shake up the standings?
Naples versus AC Milan – that was the clear winner of the previous round of the Italian Serie A. However, it was AC who dominated the duel in terms of play as well, as Olivier Giroud shot the Rossoneri to victory early in the second half.
Thanks to this win, AC Milan climbed to the top of Serie A, they currently have 60 points on their account and have a two-point lead over their biggest rival – Inter Milan.
However, the Nerrazurri have one game in hand. Last Friday, on March 4, Inter blasted Salernitana at home, with Lautaro Martinez scoring a hat-trick and Edin Džeko scoring two goals.
It was Napoli who lost all three points at home to AC Milan and dropped to third in Serie A.
Moreover, Luciano Spalletti’s charges will not have an easy task this weekend. Although Napoli are the second best team in the Italian league in terms of away games, their opponents, Hellas Verona, are putting in a solid performance, especially at home.
However, the club from the south of Italy is not the only one to take to foreign turf. Inter Milan will travel to Turin in the 29th round, where they will be hosted by the less famous of the two Turin-based sides.
Torino FC are currently in eleventh place in Serie A, however, Ivan Juric’s charges have taken just three points from their last six matches, with draws against Sassuolo, Juventus and Bologna.
However, they certainly don’t have an easy opponent to put an end to this not so dazzling streak, although Inter have won only once in their last five league matches, most recently against Salernitana. Before that, however, they dropped points in Genoa, lost 0:2 at home to Sassuolo, drew in Naples and lost the derby to AC.
So the Nerazzurri need points like salt and can be expected to go to Turin for nothing but a win.
The most comfortable position at the moment is AC Milan, who will host Empoli. The Rossoneri are clearly the favourites in this fixture, for whom gaining full points is a must, even though they have struggled at the back end in their last three games.
In any case, Empoli is not an opponent that should cause AC supporters to worry. Six points from the last eleven games and a win last time in December last year – this is the current record of the team that holds the thirteenth position in the Italian top competition.
Can AC Milan keep their lead in Serie A after this round? Or how do you think the Napoli and Inter games will turn out?
Juventus, who would also like to have a last-minute say in the championship fight, are also joining the leading trio and are facing a duel at Sampdoria.
Serie A, AC Milan