AC Milan finally overtook Juventus in the Serie A table on Matchday 28 with a victory against Empoli at San Siro. The Rossoneri have teased the overtake for some time, but it has now come to fruition.
The victory against Empoli, considering everything, was fantastic from Milan, and they have now rightfully earned their place as second in the table. It was, by no means, the Diavolo’s most aesthetically pleasing performance, but the result and method of victory can be appreciated.
As this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes, over 18 game weeks, Milan have gradually closed the six-point gap between themselves and Juventus. However, since Gameweek 24, the switch has seemed inevitable, with the Rossoneri nearly being on level terms with the Old Lady twice before finally overtaking them this weekend.
There are plenty of reasons for this to be satisfactory, but the primary one will be regarding the extra finances that a second-place finish brings. As reported yesterday, a second-place finish grants an automatic entrance into the Supercoppa Italiana, a competition with €24million prize money available.
With the Diavolo still in the Europa League, there is the chance that they will play another 16 games this season (including Thursday’s clash against Slavia Praha) if they are to reach the Final of the Europa League.
Sticking with the theme of racing, this is the stage of a race where strategy is pivotal. At this point, a driver may opt to change their tyres for Hard compound tyres, given they have much more distance to cover. However, Juventus can play extremely aggressively, with fewer games to consider, and would use the soft tyre.
With the pressure already on Pioli, he has to devise his rotation strategy perfectly between now and the end of the season to maximise the finances available to himself or another manager in the summer.
Milan’s potential fixture list*:
Slavia Praha (A) – March 14
Fiorentina (A) – March 30
Lecce (H) – April 7
Europa League QF1 – April 11
Sassuolo (A) – April 14
Europa League QF2 – April 18
Inter (H) – April 21
Juventus (A) – April 28
Europa League SF1 – May 2
Genoa (H) – May 5
Europa League SF1 – May 9
Cagliari (H) – May 12
Torino (A) – May 19
Europa League Final – May 22
Salernitana (H) – May 26
*Dates may change due to Europa League results
Juventus’ fixture list:
Genoa (H) – March 17
Lazio (A) – March 30
Lazio (Coppa Italia SF1) (H) – April 2
Fiorentina (H) – April 7
Torino (A) – April 14
Cagliari (A) – April 21
Lazio (Coppa Italia SF2) (A) – April 23
Milan (H) – April 28
Roma (A) – May 5
Salernitana (H) – May 12
Coppa Italia Final – May 15
Bologna (A) – May 19
Monza (H) – May 26
*Dates may change due to results
Doing maths over fixtures and points is beneath us as Milan. Just win baby! Forza Milan always.
Verona game is missing
When the team chooses the hard compound tyres thinking about the distance to be covered, and the strategy fails, the same writer will write an article calling for the heads of the responsible people, journalists are always right and brilliant, they know everything, they are smart and geniuses, yet they remain journalists, its the easiest thing to be a journalist