Italian Serie A:
Napoli’s first away fixture as Serie A champions ended in a 2-0 defeat to Monza.
Napoli’s title win leaves three spots for Champions League qualification through the league, with six teams in contention: Juventus, Lazio, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Atalanta, and Roma. Each of the six clubs has a maximum of 9 points remaining.
Juventus, Lazio, and Inter Milan played at home this weekend, while AC Milan, Atalanta, and Roma were on the road. Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio, and Atalanta faced teams fighting to earn points in their battles against relegation. Only Juventus came out with a win (2-0 against Cremonese). Lazio dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Lecce, while Atalanta and AC Milan were beaten by Salernitana and Spezia, respectively.
Roma is now without a win in their last 5 league matches after a goalless draw in Bologna, including 2 defeats and 3 draws.
Here are the current standings:
2 | Juventus – 69 points
3 | Inter Milan – 66 points
4 | Lazio – 65 points
5 | AC Milan – 61 points
6 | Roma – 59 points
The teams seeking points to avoid relegation faced some challenging fixtures this weekend. Hellas Verona had the best chance on paper as they played as the host against Torino, but it ended in defeat. Cremonese is one defeat away from being relegated after losing to Juventus. Salernitana is one point away from safety after a win against Atalanta. Lecce earned an important point from a 2-2 draw in Rome against Lazio to extend the relegation fight. Spezia secured an important 2-0 win against AC Milan to prolong the relegation battle.
LEAGUE STANDINGS – ITALIAN SERIE A
1 | Napoli(C) ( 35 ) – 83 points
2 | Juventus ( 35 ) – 69 points
3 | Inter Milan ( 35 ) – 66 points
4 | Lazio ( 35 ) – 65 points
5 | AC Milan ( 35 ) – 61 points
6 | Roma ( 35 ) – 59 points
7 | Atalanta ( 35 ) – 58 points
8 | Fiorentina ( 35 ) – 49 points
9 | Monza ( 35 ) – 49 points
10 | Torino ( 35 ) – 49 points
11 | Bologna ( 35 ) – 47 points
12 | Udinese ( 35 ) – 46 points
13 | Sassuolo ( 35 ) – 44 points
14 | Empoli ( 35 ) – 39 points
15 | Salernitana ( 35 ) – 38 points
16 | Lecce ( 35 ) – 32 points
17 | Spezia ( 35 ) – 30 points
18 | Hellas Verona ( 35 ) – 30 points
19 | Cremonese ( 35 ) – 24 points
20 | Sampdoria(R) ( 35 ) – 18 points
[ 2 ] Lazio || Ciro Immobile 34' Serge Milinkovic-Savic 90+4' [ 2 ] Lecce || Remi Oudin 45+3' 51' ------------------------------------- [ 1 ] Salernitana || Antonio Candreva 90+3' [ 0 ] Atalanta ------------------------------------- [ 2 ] Spezia || Przemyslaw Wisniewski 75' Salvatore Esposito 85' [ 0 ] AC Milan ------------------------------------- [ 4 ] Inter Milan || Romelu Lukaku 41' 89' Ruan Tressoldi 55'(og) Lautaro Martinez 58' [ 2 ] Sassuolo || Matheus Henrique 63' Davide Frattesi 77' ------------------------------------- [ 0 ] Hellas Verona [ 1 ] Torino || Nikola Vlasic 29' ------------------------------------- [ 2 ] Monza || Dany Mota 18' Andrea Petagna 54' [ 0 ] Napoli ------------------------------------- [ 2 ] Fiorentina || Gaetano Castrovilli 7' Giacomo Bonaventura 90' [ 0 ] Udinese ------------------------------------- [ 0 ] Bologna [ 0 ] Roma ------------------------------------- [ 2 ] Juventus || Nicolo Faioli 55' Gleison Bremer 79' [ 0 ] Cremonese ------------------------------------- [ 1 ] Sampdoria || Alessandro Zanoli 34' [ 1 ] Empoli || Roberto Piccoli 90+3' -------------------------------------
Gabriel Strefezza’s missed penalty in the 23rd minute prevented Lecce from securing a win against Lazio in Roma. Lecce managed to earn a point after consecutive league defeats, while Lazio failed to bounce back from defeat against AC Milan.
Antonio Candreva made a significant impact in the match, entering in the 80th minute and scoring the winning goal in the third minute of added time. Candreva’s goal gave Salernitana a crucial victory against Atalanta, who had previously thrashed them 8-2 in the reverse fixture.
In a must-win situation, relegation-threatened Spezia delivered. Two goals in the final 15 minutes of regulation time led Spezia to a vital 2-0 win over AC Milan, who are competing for a Champions League spot.
The victory ended Spezia’s eight-match winless streak in the league and halted their three-match losing streak.
On the other hand, AC Milan suffered a 2-0 league defeat to a team battling relegation, following their 2-0 Champions League defeat against Inter Milan.
Romelu Lukaku played a key role in Inter Milan’s 4-2 victory over Sassuolo, scoring two goals. The win marked Inter Milan’s seventh consecutive victory in all competitions. Lukaku opened the scoring and sealed the victory with his fourth goal, ensuring Inter’s triumph when the score had narrowed to 3-2.
