The top-four race in Serie A is going right down to the wire, with Juventus looking more and more unlikely to make it into the Champions League.
After Atalanta and Napoli both recorded big wins, the Old Lady suffered a humiliating 3-0 home defeat to AC Milan, which sees them drop down to fifth with just three games left.
Elsewhere, Lazio missed their chance to insert themselves into that tight top-four race after going down to Dusan Vlahovic’s Fiorentina. Meanwhile, newly crowned champions Inter celebrated their Scudetto in style.
Here are SBOTOP’s big winners and losers from another blockbuster round of Serie A fixtures.
Winner: AC Milan
AC Milan solidified their place in the top four with a convincing 3-0 away win over rivals Juventus. Brahim Diaz gave the Rossoneri the lead before Ante Rebic and Fiyako Tomori scored in quick succession to seal the victory.
The win was Milan’s first in Turin in a decade, which is indicative of just how much they have fallen behind Juve over the last few years.
But with this result, they not only have a great chance to play in the Champions League for the first time since 2013-14, but they could also finish above the Bianconeri, which would be a welcome bonus for Milan.
Loser: Juventus
Andrea Pirlo’s days as Juventus manager appear to be numbered after yet another humiliating home loss to a fierce rival. Their defeat, coupled with Atalanta and Napoli both recording big away wins, has seen Juve drop down to fifth, one point behind Napoli.
The Bianconeri now have an uphill battle to get back into the top four. They have quite a tricky run-in as they still have to take on red-hot Sassuolo and champions Inter. While the Nerazzurri have the title all sewn up, you can bet Antonio Conte will be keen to inflict more pain and suffering to his old club.
Although, it could all be moot as Juve, Real Madrid, and Barcelona face sanctions from UEFA – including possible exclusion from the Champions League – as they have yet to renounce their participation in the European Super League.
Still, this heavy defeat to his old club could just prove to be the final nail in Pirlo’s coffin at Juve.
Winner: Dusan Vlahovic
Dusan Vlahovic’s stock continues to rise as he scored both of Fiorentina’s goals in their big 2-0 victory over Lazio.
The 21-year-old Serb is having a fantastic end to the season as he keeps producing a host of Serie A 2021 highlights. He has scored nine goals in his last seven games and is now up to 21 goals on the season, tied for second in the league.
Vlahovic’s fine form has caught the attention of the big clubs. He has already been linked with the likes of Liverpool, and if he keeps up his impressive run, he’s likely to get that big-money move this summer.
Losers: Inzaghi Brothers
It was not a good weekend for the Inzaghi Brothers. First, Simone’s Lazio squandered a major opportunity to crash the very tight top-four race by losing to Fiorentina.
That defeat all but ends Lazio’s already faint hopes of making it back to the Champions League. As things stand, they are six points adrift of Napoli in fourth and would still be three points back even if they won their game in hand.
But things are even worse for big brother Filippo, who saw his Benevento side lose a relegation six-pointer to Cagliari. Benevento have now lost five of their last six matches and are four points adrift of safety with three games left.
The Serie A 2021 betting odds will not favour Benevento to get anything out of their next match away to red-hot Atalanta, so they will likely need to win their final two matches against Crotone and Torino to pull off the great escape.
Winner: Inter Milan
And last but not least, Inter Milan had quite a fun weekend of their own. The Nerazzurri celebrated their first match as newly crowned champions of Italy in style as they smashed Sampdoria 5-1 at San Siro.
Even with star striker Romelu Lukaku given the game off, the champions simply had too much for Samp. Alexis Sanchez bagged a brace in the first half and young Andrea Pinamonti picked up his first-ever Serie A goal for Inter.
With their title mission accomplished, Inter now have three more games where they can simply enjoy playing carefree football.
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