AC Milan have been as many as seven points behind Juventus this season, but they are now three points ahead and have snatched second spot in the battle to finish runners-up to Inter.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport writes, in the last eight league games Milan have amassed 17 points compared to Juve’s seven. In 2024, Stefano Pioli’s side pushed hard with tactical breakthroughs and new beliefs while their rivals from up the A4 collapsed.
Milan’s recovery actually began as early as December. After a black October and a November with signs of recovery, the change of pace arrived in the last month of the year.
The Rossoneri started with the victory in Frosinone and then won against Monza and Sassuolo, hitting two roadblocks in the meantime (the defeat against Atalanta away from home and the 2-2 draw with Salernitana).
The new year started even better with three successes and nine points, but Juve also continued to travel at pace. That was until the turning point on January 27, nine games ago.
Thanks to the away victory against Lecce, Juve had in fact reached the summit of the Serie A table thanks to the Supercoppa which forced Inter to postpone a league match. It seems like a long time ago, but you just have to go back less than two months.
Juve’s ephemeral advantage at the top did not last very long: in the following round, the 22nd, the Bianconeri drew against Empoli and the Rossoneri against Bologna, while Inter prepared for the direct clash the following day by winning against Fiorentina, and therefore overtaking Juve again.
From that 27th January onwards the free fall of Max Allegri’s men began, who not only gradually lost contact with Inter – now completely off the radar at +17 – but began to watch their backs as Pioli and his side had second place in his sights.
After the draw with Empoli, Juve’s defeat against Inter came after 18 consecutive games without a loss (16 in the league and two in the Coppa Italia). Milan took advantage of this and went from -7 to -4.
Another game, another step backwards for the Bianconeri: the defeat against Udinese allowed Milan to claw the gap back to just one point, while the victory against Frosinone – the only one in Juve’s last eight matches – moved them back to four points ahead.
In the following two matchdays the Rossoneri made their move, which came in conjunction with the 2-2 draw against Atalanta and was strengthened on the 29th matchday, with Juventus’ 0-0 draw against Genoa.
Milan are now second and as mentioned have a three-point advantage over third-placed Juve, while fifth (Roma) are eight points behind. The team from Turin have just seven points in their last eight games, and they are now watching over their shoulders again.
They have allowed the fifth-place team to come back from -17 to -8 and Milan to go from -7 to +3. The Diavolo themselves are among the best teams in the league today, with 17 points in their last eight games.
Only Daniele De Rossi’s reborn Roma (19 points), Thiago Motta’s Bologna (22) and Simone’s Inzaghi’s Inter (22) did better. It is a turning point which for Milan came about thanks to the tweak to a 4-1-4-1, the resurgence of Rafael Leao and the continued contribution of the summer signings.
