MY ACCOUNT
For the second successive season, the city of Milan reigns supreme in Serie A.
Last year, Inter bucked the trend of Juventus dominating Italy’s top flight and they are once again in Scudetto contention.
However, while they are looking menacing in second spot, it is their rivals AC Milan who are in the driving seat this time around, leading by two points with two matches to go.
Yet there are reasons for thinking Inter can leapfrog their neighbours once more before the season finishes.
Inter’s experience
First and foremost, their current crop knows how to win a Scudetto, having done so last year with an impressive points haul of 91.
Inter should also be high on confidence going into their final two league assignments after winning the Coppa Italia at the expense of Juve on Wednesday.
An extra-time brace from Ivan Perisic proved pivotal against the Old Lady and nicely set the tone for the pursuit of further silverware in the coming weeks.
They also face lowly Cagliari and Sampdoria sides in their last two games, whereas Milan face tricky clashes with Atalanta and Sassuolo to finish their campaign.
Plucky Milan
Yet anyone who has been following Serie A closely this season knows how much this Milan team have achieved, and it would be a bold move to suggest they will throw it away in their final couple of games.
Key to the rise of Stefano Pioli’s team has been mental resilience.
They are not blessed with world-class individuals nor masses of experience in winning trophies. Instead, it is a combination of youth and fearless football which has brought them to where they are today.
They are not the top scorers in the division, but they play open and attacking football, and in 22-year-old Rafael Leao they possess one of the most exciting youngsters in Italian football.
Behind the forward is a spine made up of industrious midfielder Sandro Tonali and resilient English defender Fikayo Tomori, with both players having exceeded expectations this season.
Milan will know full well the job is not yet done but they have more than enough in their locker to overcome their remaining opponents, given they are currently on a 14-game unbeaten run which stretches back to January.
As part of that streak, they have drawn with Juventus as well as beating Inter, Napoli, Lazio and Fiorentina.
No other side has been able to match that level of consistency since the turn of the year, with Napoli tumbling out of the title race a short while ago and Inter suffering a significant setback with defeat to Bologna at the end of April.
That consistency is no coincidence and it emanates from the manager’s belief in his squad that they can indeed go all the way.
Milan last won the Scudetto back in 2011 with a prime Zlatan Ibrahimovic leading the line along with Brazilian jewels Alexandre Pato and Robinho.
Though the current crop is arguably less glamorous and not loaded with big-name talents, they still appear set to come out on top of one of the most enthralling Serie A title races of the last decade.
