Serie A: Juventus, Inter and Milan never so down

It had never happened that, six rounds from the end, Juventus, Inter and Milan were now all out of the Scudetto fight. Overall, the three big names in our football have won 67 championships out of 90 in a single round. And in only three tournaments (the last one in 1942…) none of them finished in the top three. Journey into the reasons for a decline that has never been so strong.

Out of the championship fight almost immediately. Humiliatingly out of the Champions League, with five defeats and at least three unacceptable performances (for attitude rather than play) at the home of PSG, Maccabi and Benfica. Out of the Italian Cup in a semi-final with very tense nerves with Inter. Juve’s season is close to disaster. It can be saved by the Europa League and a Champions League placement, but the future remains to be written with the two ongoing trials, the appeal to the EU Court (with unpredictable consequences today) and the problem of financial fair play with UEFA. Of course, there is no shortage of alibis for Allegri and the players. Meanwhile the injuries in series: Pogba never available; Chiesa returned but far from the devastating one of the European Championship; Di Maria, Milik and Bonucci more in the stands than inside; and an overall average of one knockout per game. However, some situations are the result of market errors, see the farewell to Dybala (in exchange for a much more absent Pogba). Then the penalty that darkened the horizon for a long time and depressed spirits: the 15 points were temporarily returned, but a new penalty will come in any case. Finally, the resignation of Agnelli and the Superlega question, however destabilizing. Alibis, however, are not enough to explain. Allegri was good at putting his face into it and managing the emergency (a little less everyday life). But he’s been showing signs of nervousness lately, especially when the team seemed to get out of hand. Juve showed compactness and character here and there, but the game was often defeatist, boring, inspired by the old first commandment: “defend yourself”. The most serious thing is the collective and individual performance in relation to the considerable potential: Vlahovic was Osimhen’s rival and today he is a striker who no longer sees the goal, also because he is outside the box. Is it possible that in a year he has unlearned everything? And then: Bremer was not continuous, Paredes was a disappointment, Alex Sandro convoluted, Di Maria a phenomenon with too many breaks. The turning point Szczesny, Perin, Rabiot, Danilo, Locatelli and the young Fagioli, Miretti, Iling and Soulé kept things going in the most complicated moments. But it’s hard to escape the impression of an anarchic game too tied to the inspiration of individuals. In addition to the results, an ideological change will be needed.

Inexplicable but true: this year there are two almost opposite Inters. One, cynical and compact, from direct elimination. The other, discontinuous and fragile, for the championship. The Nerazzurri are in the semi-finals of the Champions League after deservedly beating Barcelona, ​​Porto and Benfica, and it doesn’t matter that none of them were at the top. They are in the Italian Cup final after eliminating Juve. And they won the Super Cup by overwhelming Milan. On the contrary, in Serie A there are 57 points (-9 compared to last year), in cohabitation with Milan and Roma in 4th place: qualification for the Champions League is not a given. There were two crucial moments in the crisis. At the start of the tournament, with four defeats in the first eight days (Lazio, Milan, Udinese and Roma). And on his return from the World Cup, after the 1-0 draw with Napoli had deceived: between the 19th and 30th matchdays the knockouts with Empoli, Bologna, Juve, Spezia, Fiorentina and Monza definitively dug a ditch with Napoli . Distracted players, games slipped away without convinced reactions, unforgivable mistakes in the goal area, an often predictable and monotonous game. The theory that places all the blame on Inzaghi holds up to a certain point. Certainly the coach has shown little flexibility in key moments, when it would have been advisable to change the game system if you are not an interpreter (see the insistence on the three-man defense and on Correa). In addition, the open-air disputes (Lukaku-Barella, Onana-Brozovic and others) and some avoidable nervousness attitudes on the pitch have revealed a tense locker room and not always under control. In order not to miss anything, Inzaghi argued indirectly with the club, feeling unloaded. But it is also true that the coach was good at reinventing Calhanoglu play without making Brozovic regret, and courageous in employing central Darmian and midfielder Mkhitaryan. It’s not his fault if Skriniar thought of PSG and if he found himself a Lukaku stand-in for Conte’s (but he didn’t even manage to lift the Belgian). The post-Qatar fatigue of Lautaro, the age of Dzeko, the discontinuity of Dumfries and Gosens, the growing pains of Bastoni: whatever the outcome of the cups, the future requires interventions. Inzaghi has managed to fix some malfunctions that do not depend on his will, but every now and then he has created some avoidable ones. The media management is even worse: the insistence on successes is a double-edged sword if the boast is an Italian Cup and a Super Cup. With all due respect, not primary goals for a club like Inter.

A different transfer market would certainly have made Milan’s life easier. Not all the responsibilities lie with the newcomers, but Pioli needed a more reliable tank to try and confirm an already miraculous championship. Instead, Dest, Adli and Vranck (ghosts) have arrived, the convoluted Origi, Pobega slowly coming off the radar, and De Ketelaere who, from De Bruyne’s potential heir, has turned into a player without a role and with a feeble personality like the physical too many times on the ground. The only valuable one, albeit in a short window of time, was Thiaw: when the crisis got deeper, and the coach decided on a more defensive tactical formula, the young German was the best in the center of the line to three. In the last four outings, however, the performance has been far from those tops. The change of system – and of ideology, as Sacchi reproached – served to regroup the group but caused Leao to lose who, not surprisingly, returned to him when Milan re-proposed the three-man attack. There are more players who can make the difference compared to Inter: the Portuguese, Theo who is however paying for the World Cup, the ubiquitous Tonali and Maignan whose absence due to injury was heartbreaking. It’s not easy to quantify the points lost, but they are still many: the goalkeeper is a top player like Leao. The not very rich squad forced Pioli to squeeze the “indispensable” players (Tonali, Theo, Tomori), but credible alternatives were lacking in some key roles, especially at the center of an attack led by the 36-year-old Giroud. The worst moment was in January, when it seemed that Milan was imploding: Pioli ended up in discussion after a 0-4 draw with Lazio and a 2-5 draw with Sassuolo. Even in March the mechanism jammed. The beautiful game was expensive. With either City or Real on the horizon, both Milan and Inter must secure the Champions League title before dreaming of European glory. Milan is experiencing a bit of the bipolarity of its cousins: two successes in the last eight days, one of which, the 4-0 against Napoli, however, was the psychological key to winning the quarter-final of the Champions League. But in Serie A, 57 points and Atalanta breathing down your neck don’t guarantee anything.