The title is already clear in the Italian league, but the runner-up is yet to be decided. Second place is currently held by AC Milan, and Juventus could overtake it. The “Old Lady” will present themselves at home at the Allianz Stadium, eager to repeat their victory at the San Siro in October against the Rossoneri.
In the first half of the season, Juventus was Inter’s main competitor in the fight for the title, but it dropped out and was gradually replaced by Milan in second place. Inter’s lead at the top was already big at the time, and after the weekend, the Nerazzurri confirmed what had been expected for a long time – they won their 20th title in history. For the rest of the season, Juventus and AC Milan are left to fight for second place and the title of vice-champion of Italy.
And AC is better. Coach Stefano Pioli’s men have a five-point advantage over the “Old Lady” and there are only five games left until the end of the season. Can the Rossoneri keep it up? It will be important to deal with Monday’s painful defeat in the city derby. It was the first time in history that AC lost a derby and Inter could celebrate winning the title. In addition, the defeat in the Derby della Madoninna was not the only “pain”, because even before that, Milan managed to fall out of the Europa League and AS Roma became the fateful one.
Milan won’t win a trophy, and of course that won’t go without criticism. There is already speculation about the end of coach Pioli. However, the charismatic coach himself does not draw premature conclusions. “We are waiting for the end of the season so that we can evaluate it. We put everything into it, but we didn’t always show our qualities.” Pioli stated.
AC wants to win the remaining five rounds and has something to give back to Juventus. “Juventus are a solid team who have strong and unpredictable forwards. They are strong on the ball and can be dangerous in every situation. It will be a tough game, but we have to face it with determination and conviction. It is up to us to finish second, they won again and they did well. We have to get up and respond. We will have to give our best and fight for every ball.” declared Stefano Pioli at the pre-match conference.
Juve did not allow the fight for the title from the beginning of the season, no matter how close Inter was for a long time. Allegri clearly proclaimed that the main goal is to advance to the Champions League. The “old lady” is not sure about him yet, and from this point of view, Saturday’s duel is very important. Bologna is already pushing from the fourth position, and AS Roma and Atalanta have also joined the fight for the millionaire competition.
In any case, the form of Juventus is not just anyone. In the last round, he stumbled again when he only drew 2-2 with Cagliari. Since March, they have only managed to beat Fiorentina and that is very little for a team of this caliber. The difference between Juventus and the fifth place is only six points, and the “Old Lady” has a rather interesting lot ahead of them – in addition to Milan, they will face Rome in the next round, and in the penultimate round they will face Bologna.
In terms of absences, Juventus are a bit better off. In addition to the injured Keane, only the pair of Pogba and Fagioli, whose cases have been known for a long time, are missing. AC Milan has more to worry about. The foursome of Jović, Kalulu, Kjaer and Mirante are injured, while Calabria, Theo Hernández and Tomori are serving card suspensions.
Juventus FC – probable line-up:
Szczesny – Gatti, Bremer, Danilo – McKennie, Alcaraz, Locatelli, Rabiot, Cambiaso – Vlahović, Chiesa
AC Milan – probable line-up:
Maignan – Musah, Gabbia, Thiaw, Florenzi – Bennacer, Reijnders – Pulišić, Loftus-Cheek, Leao – Giroud
Tipsport odds: 2.13 – 3.37 – 3.81
Tip EuroFotbal.cz: 0
