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The emergence of Inter as the new Serie A champions has left behemoths Juventus and AC Milan fighting for a top-four finish along with Napoli and Atalanta. The Bianconeris have the same number of points as Milan and welcome them at home on Sunday in matchday 35, with the danger of missing out on Champions League football next term impending for these sides.
Juventus were denied their tenth successive Scudetto by Antonio Conte’s men last weekend and are yet to secure a place in the top four. Results haven’t been favourable for Andrea Pirlo in his debut season as a manager, and the Bianconeri have been saved by the skin of their teeth quite often this campaign. Their recent 2-1 win against Udinese can be pointed out as a similar instance where Cristiano Ronaldo bailed his team out after trailing till the final 10 minutes of the game.
While Juve’s away form this season is far from their days in the Sun, the Old Lady have enjoyed some significant results at home – winning 13 out of their 17 games at the Allianz Stadium. Besides, their records against the Rossoneri can also uplift their spirits heading onto Sunday’s clash, with the Turin giants recording all three points in each of their last nine Serie A encounters at home.
With their brilliant post-lockdown performance last year, Milan found themselves as favourites to lift the Scudetto till December. But it has been all downhill since. The Rossoneri lost ground on their hopes of a Serie A title as early as February and slipped out to Manchester United in the Europa League a few weeks later. Their recent losses against Napoli and Sassuolo meant that Stefano Pioli’s men have managed to gather only 11 points at home in 2021.
However, Milan’s sensational away form has kept them in the top-four race thus far, and despite their 3-0 loss with Lazio, Milan have managed to avoid consecutive defeats since the season resumed after lockdown last summer. But work has to be done and rapidly if Pioli’s men are to return to the Champions League after an eight-year absence and the Rossoneri can only wish that their top scorer and superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic can once again recapture his sublime form against one of his many former sides.
Key Players
Juventus acquired Cristiano Ronaldo’s services in 2018 to sharpen their attacking prowess, but since his arrival, the Portuguese have saved his side from gut-wrenching collapses on numerous occasions. He was Juve’s top scorer in the past two seasons, and inevitably with 34 goals in 40 overall appearances, has once reclaimed that crown this campaign. Hence, if somehow Juve miss out on Champions League football, the club may have to face immense pressure to retain their talisman next year.
Federico Chiesa has been one of the best performers in black and white since the beginning of the season. While his tally of 7 goals and 7 assists in 26 Serie A games isn’t a justification of his capabilities, the wing-man has been electric down the flanks. His energetic tempo and intensity have provided Pirlo’s men to counter frequently. The Italian international completes 1.9 dribbles per game with 1.8 shots on target and has turned out to be the club’s revelation of the season.
Since joining the Rossoneri for the second time in December 2019, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored 17 goals in 26 matches in all competitions this season, passing 500 career goals in February. He extended his initial six-month deal by a year in August 2020, and has agreed to continue further till 2022. With Milan’s attacking threats in a bleak run of form since the turn of the year, much responsibility rests on Ibrahimovic’s broad shoulders, who has been plagued by a string of injuries lately – to save their season.
Theo Hernandez is one of the most in-form players in Serie A this season. With his goal against Benevento last weekend, the former Real Madrid left-back has already found the back of the net on five occasions with five more assists in 29 Serie A games. His defensive efforts are also modest, with 1.6 tackles and 1.4 clearances per 90 minutes.
Prediction
The Old Lady’s home performance against the Rossoneri have been one-sided for a while. And another victory is expected on Sunday. Andrea Pirlo’s men shouldn’t have major issues in seeing out their Milanese opponents as only a Champions League spot can save Pirlo’s job at the Turin and nothing else. Adrien Rabiot is expected to return to the starting XI with Alvaro Morata in question to replace a struggling Paulo Dybala in the attack.
The Rossoneri have a mountain to climb before bagging all three points at Turin this weekend. An already exhausted Milan side will probably run behind the ball and pose very little threat in the opponent’s half for the entirety of the game unless they can pull off something inspirational to avoid a bitter blow for their Champions League dreams.
