Sacchi says Milan should ‘aim to finish second’ after Juventus’ dip in form

Former AC Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi has claimed that the Rossoneri should now be trying to finish in second place after the dip in form that Juventus have suffered. 

Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Milan News), Sacchi revealed that he actually expected Juventus to fall away from Inter in the title race and towards Milan in third, creating a battle for the runners-up spot.

There is now only one point between Milan and Juventus, whilst there is an eight-point gap between the Rossoneri and Inter.

Juventus lost to Inter recently and have then lost at home to Udinese, meaning their title charge has really stalled.

Sacchi was asked if he saw that dip from Juventus coming, to which he said: “If I say yes, I come off as presumptuous. But I have to admit that the defeat against Udinese, in my opinion, is the result of the defeat a week ago, at San Siro against Inter,” Sacchi said.

“Therefore, something could be felt in the air. At San Siro, Allegri’s boys gave their all and understood that they were inferior to Inter. These are matches that leave their mark on you, physically and mentally. Once they realized that they probably wouldn’t win the race for the title, they perhaps let their guard down a little. Furthermore, Juve has a very young team, there is little experience, they have no leader men. All this weighs heavily in the long run.”

Building on that, Sacchi discussed the good form that Milan have produced in 2024 so far and he said that they should really be aiming to finish second now, rather than accepting third place and a Champions League qualification spot.

Milan are going through a good period of form, and they also showed it on Sunday evening against Napoli. They are only one point behind Juve and therefore it is logical that they aim to finish second. However, it should not be forgotten that the Rossoneri are also involved in the Europa League, while Juve have no European matches and can prepare for the whole week without wasting energy. This is no small detail. It will be an exciting sprint all the way through,” he said.

With the gap to Inter being eight points, which could grow to 11 if they win their game in hand, Milan cannot expect to catch Inter unless there is a serious drop in the Nerazzurri’s quality between now and the end of the campaign.