Another day, another major twist in Serie A as league leaders Juventus were beaten 4-2 by AC Milan in gameweek 31, thanks to a much-improved second-half display from the Rossoneri.
Much of the pre-match talk was dominated by reports that there’s going to be a managerial change at the San Siro dugout, with Ralf Rangnick being linked to the hot seat.
That, combined with Lazio’s 1-2 defeat at the hands of relegation-threatened Lecce, meant a win for Juventus would have allowed them to go ten points clear at the top of the table.
However, Milan played a major spoilsport as they managed to come back from 2-0 down to win the game 4-2, thanks to goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Franck Kessie, Rafael Leao and Ante Rebic.
Before that, Adrien Rabiot and Cristiano Ronaldo had given the Old Lady a comfortable 2-0 lead. Despite their late collapse, Maurizio Sarri’s men remain seven points clear at the top of the table.
AC Milan, on the other hand, have risen to fifth, one point above AS Roma, who are scheduled to play later in the week.
That being said, here are the five major talking points from Milan’s shocking win over Juventus at the San Siro.
#1 Title race back on?
Ever since Serie A resumed post the coronavirus-enforced break, Juventus haven’t been playing well, but they still managed to win their fixtures.
In AC Milan, the Turin-based club faced their most difficult fixture in recent weeks, and eventually, they faltered on the big occasion. The defeat leaves them seven points clear, and thankfully, Lazio also dropped points, so the pain won’t linger for long.
But is the title race back on? Can Lazio or Inter Milan catch Juventus? There are still seven games to go and judging by the way things panned out at the San Siro, Maurizio Sarri’s side will have to perform much better to retain the Scudetto.
#2 Are Juventus starting to get complacent?
By the time the Bianconeri kicked off on Tuesday night, they already knew Lazio had faltered. So, could complacency be the reason for their defeat against AC Milan?
It could be one of the reasons, but Juventus have genuinely struggled this season. But it didn’t get much attention as they somehow kept winning their games.
The Bianconeri’s defeat against Napoli in the Coppa Italia final, combined with the latest upset means Sarri has plenty of questions to ponder upon.
#3 Can AC Milan force their way into Champions League places?
Apart from high-flyers Atalanta, AC Milan are arguably the second most in-form team in Italy at the moment, and they’re peaking at the right time in the season.
As Lazio and Inter Milan continue to struggle, can the Rossoneri force their way into the Champions League berths?
That should certainly be their aim from here onwards. Currently, there’s a massive 14-point gap between them and fourth-placed Atalanta, who also have a game in hand.
That being said, judging by the current form of all teams in contention here, we could possibly witness a big turnaround in Serie A in the coming weeks.
#4 The winds of change: Uncertainty surrounding Milan’s head coach
Since taking over as head coach in October, Stefano Piolo has managed to steady the ship, however, it is now being said that the Rossoneri want to replace him and that they’ve already found his successor in former RB Leipzig manager Ralf Rangnick.
When AC Milan players were questioned about the same, they came out unified in the defence of Pioli, which makes it obvious that the Italian coach does have the confidence of his troops.
If indeed that’s the case, would it be the right decision to replace Piolo and bring in another fresh face? There has been a lot of chopping and changing at the San Siro in recent years, and perhaps they should think of exercising some patience.
#5 Serie A is the place for goals
While La Liga continues to provide a nailbiting finish for the league title, Serie A has, in turn, delivered when it comes to goals.
For a league that’s considered ‘defensive’ as compared to the Premier League or even the Bundesliga, there hasn’t been a single game in Italian top-flight that ended 0-0 since Udinese and Fiorentina played out a stalemate in early February.
In fact, there have been plenty of high scoring matches in recent weeks, just like the one between AC Milan and Juventus.
That makes it evident, even though the Old Lady are favourites to win the Scudetto, the Serie A is by no means, a foregone conclusion just yet.
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