Inter Milan have broken Juventus’ nine-year grip on the Scudetto to win the 2020/21 Serie A title, with four games still to play.
I Nerazzurri have been the best team in Italy for much of the season and Antonio Conte has led them to a comfortable title, winning 25, drawing seven and losing just two in a phenomenal campaign. They have won four more games than any other team; Milan and Napoli winning 21 so far, while Juventus have suffered a poor season by their standards and are struggling to nail down a top-four place.
The Serie A 2021 betting odds have backed Conte’s boys for much of the campaign and it will be such a sweet moment for the club which has watched I Bianconeri win Scudetto after Scudetto for almost a decade.
Winner: Christian Eriksen (Inter Milan)
Former Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen has had a torrid time since his switch from the Premier League to Serie A, out of sorts, out of the team and seemingly on his way out of Milan. But head coach Antonio Conte has shown some faith in the Dane and he repaid that with the opening goal of Inter’s 2-0 away win against Crotone. After a frustrating first half for the leaders, Eriksen showed great skill and composure as he took a pass from Romelu Lukaku, just outside the penalty area, and fired a low shot into the bottom right corner to give Inter the lead.
As Crotone became stretched and Inter broke at pace Achraf Hakimi scored an injury-time second to secure the points and inch I Nerazzurri closer to the Scudetto. And when Sassuolo scored a second-half equaliser to deny Atalanta three points in their Sunday afternoon meeting that meant Inter could no longer be caught.
Losers: Juventus
Okay the Old Lady won today, a 2-1 victory away to Udinese, but the best she can hope for this season is second place. It looked like being a disastrous day for Juve when their hosts led through Nahuel Molina’s tenth-minute strike until the 83rd minute. But a handball presented Cristiano Ronaldo with a penalty, which he converted before he grabbed a winner in the 89th minute. Juve are up to third.
A win today doesn’t mask the disappointment of a poor campaign in Europe and at home and when all the action and results have been analysed the Old Lady’s Serie A 2021 results just haven’t been good enough. They have lost their Scudetto to the better team and now head coach Andrea Pirlo needs to deliver a top-four place.
Winners: Lazio
Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio are still in with a shout of securing a place in next season’s Champions League after a 4-3 victory over Genoa lifted them to within three points of fourth place and with a game in hand. Four wins in five have lifted I Biancoceleste into contention to repeat their fourth-placed finish from the 2019/20 campaign.
Joaquin Correa with two goals, Ciro Immobile with his 18th of the season and Luis Alberto were on target as Lazio held off a spirited fightback from Genoa who scored twice in the last ten minutes.
Losers: Napoli
Napoli must have thought they had cemented their top-four place when they led deep into injury time against relegation-threatened Cagliari. Gennaro Gattuso’s side took an early lead when Victor Osimhen struck in the 13th minute. But Cagliari put in a brave performance, registering 14 shots to Napoli’s 19 and four to five on target, and they grabbed a 94th-minute equaliser when Nahitan Nandez converted from close range to earn a valuable point. And when Ronaldo scored his two late goals for Juventus that meant Napoli dropped to fifth.
Winner: Stefano Pioli (AC Milan head coach)
I Rossoneri have enjoyed their best season for some time but it was in danger of falling off the rails after back-to-back defeats had seen the early season leaders drop out of the top four. A defeat at home to Sassuolo was followed by a humbling 3-0 defeat to Lazio and Pioli needed to steady the ship for the visit of Benevento. And his side responded well to win 2-0, Hakan Calhanoglu and Theo Hernandez breaching the Benevento defence and Milan are fourth.
Losers: Benevento
Benevento had a chance to climb out of the bottom three, on 31 points and 11 clear of the 19th and 20th clubs Parma and Crotone, but they missed the chance and are in a four-way fight with Torino, Cagliari and Spezia to avoid the last relegation place, though Fiorentina and Genoa are still looking over their shoulders.
Benevento were going okay, but with just one point to show from the last five games, they need to gather some momentum, and quickly.
So with four rounds to play, Inter are champions. But there’s still plenty to play for with a fierce battle for the top four places and a relegation struggle which could go all the way to the final game, and here at SBOTOP, we’ll be there every step of the way.
We’re at the business end of the season, but the champagne corks are already popping in the blue and black half of Milan, and not before time!
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