MILAN SLUMP: SLOPPY FINISHING LEAVES ROSSONERI TEN POINTS BEHIND RIVALS INTER IN TITLE RACE
Milan’s title hopes take a hit! Discover how Parma stunned the Rossoneri and why VAR allowed the winning goal to stand tonight.
Milan paid the price for sloppy finishing and slow defending. Parma handed them their first Serie A loss since the opening weekend, and now Milan sit 10 points behind Inter.
After a 1-1 draw with Como in a rescheduled midweek match, the Rossoneri were already struggling. That game left them seven points behind Inter, saw Max Allegri sent off and suspended, and forced some last-minute changes. Strahinja Pavlovic wasn’t fit enough to start, and Santiago Gimenez was out, but Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek returned to action, and Adrien Rabiot was back from suspension. Then, just before kickoff, Matteo Gabbia pulled out during the warm-up, so Koni De Winter stepped in, and Davide Bartesaghi found himself in a new spot in the back three. Parma, meanwhile, came in with momentum after two straight wins, even though they had Alessandro Circati suspended and a handful of injuries; Ndiaye, Suzuki, Almqvist, and Frigan were all missing.
The match had its moments. Early on, Alexis Saelemaekers whipped in a wild rabona cross, but Loftus-Cheek and Parma’s keeper Corvi crashed into each other trying to meet it. Loftus-Cheek came off worse, stretchered off, and Ardon Jashari took his place.
Corvi stayed busy, standing up to shots from Pulisic and Jashari, then darted off his line to stop Pulisic again from a tough angle.
Right before halftime, Milan nearly broke through. Rabiot nodded down a ball from Bartesaghi, Pulisic found space 14 yards out, but drove his shot wide.
Then came a bit of drama. Rafael Leao got booked for diving in the box; he went down a little too easily. But Milan almost scored moments later. Leao chased a Saelemaekers through ball, Corvi slid out to knock it away, and Pulisic pounced on the rebound. With the net gaping, Mariano Troilo lunged in with a desperate tackle to keep it scoreless.
Parma mostly sat back, but they had their chances too. Emanuele Valeri nearly flicked in a cross at full stretch, forcing Mike Maignan into a difficult save.
Leao came heartbreakingly close to scoring on 64 minutes. Milan recycled a poorly-cleared corner, and Leao’s acrobatic volley hit the inside of the post, rolled along the goal line, and somehow stayed out.
Pavlovic came off the bench and nodded a free kick wide. Then Parma struck. Mariano Troilo leapt over Bartesaghi at the back post and headed in a corner. The referee first blew for a foul but, after checking VAR, ruled that Valenti just blocked Maignan; he didn’t foul him, so the goal stood.
Niclas Füllkrug had a couple of late looks, heading a corner over and then seeing another shot deflected just wide. But in the end, Milan’s missed chances and defensive lapses cost them.
LUCIANO SPALLETTI OFFICIALLY EXTENDS JUVENTUS TENURE UNTIL 2028 AFTER IMPRESSIVE INTERIM SPELL
Juventus coach Spalletti extends his contract until 2028. Get the latest on the Serie A top-four race and match news.
Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti just signed a new two-year deal with the club, capping off a promising six months at the helm.
He broke the news to his players first, right before Friday’s training session. Not long after, Juventus posted a video of Spalletti sharing the update. “I wanted you to hear it from me before anyone else,” he told the squad. “We’ve decided to extend my contract by another two years. I wanted to tell you before the news got out. Honestly, the road ahead looks tough, but I’m convinced we’ll tackle it together. With your character and your fight, we can turn every challenge into something bigger.”
Spalletti took charge back in October, stepping in after Juventus sacked Igor Tudor. Tudor’s departure came after three straight losses and a long, frustrating stretch without a win. At the time, Juventus handed Spalletti an eight-month contract. The word was, he'd get an automatic two-year extension if the team qualified for the Champions League.
Right now, Juventus sits just outside the Champions League spots, one point back from fourth-place Como, with seven games left in the season.
“When I joined seven months ago, the club gave me this short contract,” Spalletti explained. “The idea was simple: let’s give it some time, get to know each other, then decide at the end of the season if we want to keep going.”
Back then, Juventus sat in seventh place, fighting just to stay in Europe. In the Champions League, they were already scrambling to avoid elimination.
Things have improved since Spalletti took over. Juventus has picked up 17 wins, six losses, and eight draws in 31 matches. They managed to push through to the Champions League playoffs, though Galatasaray knocked them out.
Club CEO Damien Comolli praised Spalletti’s impact. “Since joining us, Luciano’s made a real difference on the pitch, around the club, and among our fans,” Comolli said. “He’s exactly the kind of leader we need. His ambitious football matches what we all expect from Juventus, and he stands for what our club’s all about. So, we want to keep going with him. We believe stability and continuity are key to reaching our goals.”
Juventus hasn’t lifted the Serie A trophy since 2020, when they wrapped up a run of nine straight titles.
Before arriving in Turin, Spalletti led Napoli to the Serie A title in 2023, then took charge of Italy’s national team. That stint didn’t go well; he lost his job last June after a shaky start in World Cup qualifying. Now, he’s got another shot to lead a powerhouse club.
NAPOLI LEAPFROG AC MILAN INTO SECOND PLACE WITH VITAL 1-0 SAN SIRO VICTORY
Napoli beat AC Milan 1-0 to move into second place. Discover how Politano and McTominay are chasing Inter for the title.
Napoli snatched a late 1-0 win over AC Milan at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, keeping their hopes for a second straight Serie A title very much alive. Scott McTominay played the entire match, and with Napoli sitting third before kickoff, their victory bumped them ahead of Milan into second place, just seven points behind Inter. That gap was a daunting 11 points a mere three weeks ago, but Napoli's five-game winning streak, combined with Inter dropping points, has changed the picture fast. With seven matches left, McTominay and the team aren’t giving up on defending their scudetto.
Early in the game, McTominay nearly had Napoli fans holding their breath when he tried a bicycle kick, a move that’s become one of his signatures. This time, though, he couldn't duplicate his Hampden magic from last November against Denmark. The ball skipped wide.
The game felt tense and looked to be heading for a draw until the 79th minute. That’s when Napoli broke through with a quick attack down the left. McTominay didn’t get the goal, but his movement from a Mathias Olivera cross caused chaos in the Milan box. Matteo Politano, coming on as a sub, pounced at the far post and put in a tidy left-footed finish.
Billy Gilmour, McTominay’s Scotland teammate, didn’t get on the pitch. He’d started in three of his last four Serie A appearances, but this time watched from the bench.
Napoli’s next game takes them away to Parma, who sit in 13th. Inter travelled to play Como later that same day. Talking about the title race, manager Antonio Conte said, “Scudetto? It's tough. Inter is really strong and is having an incredible season. We can’t slip up; we need them to make mistakes, and not just once. Honestly, we have to be realistic… Inter deserves to lead. Still, we’ve won the Supercoppa and sit second. We should be pretty happy. With all our injuries and problems, this season could easily have gone off the rails.”
Around the rest of Serie A, Lennon Miller, who didn’t see action for Scotland over the international break, came off the bench for Udinese in the 65th minute of their scoreless draw with Como. On Sunday, Lewis Ferguson saw red for the first time in Italy after picking up two yellows in thirty seconds late in Bologna’s 2-1 win at Cremonese. Che Adams found the net for Torino in their 1-0 victory over Pisa.
