THE GREAT DIVIDE: INTER MILAN PULL 10 POINTS CLEAR AS JUVENTUS FACE TOP-FOUR COLLAPSE
Inter Milan is running away with it! Discover how they moved 10 points clear while Juventus suffered a historic home loss to Como.
Inter Milan didn’t need to be flashy on Saturday. Two late goals from substitutes Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Manuel Akanji were enough for a 2-0 win at Lecce, and with that, Inter stretched its Serie A lead to 10 points.
Both guys only came on for the final half hour. Mkhitaryan found himself wide open at the back post and tucked away Federico Dimarco’s corner in the 75th minute. Akanji finished the job, heading in from another corner just seven minutes later.
“We knew they’d run out of gas in the second half, so we kept pushing,” Mkhitaryan said.
Dimarco thought he’d scored right after halftime, but VAR wiped it out. Marcus Thuram was offside. He almost scored again, only for Lecce to clear his shot off the line. But in the end, he set up Akanji’s goal from the corner.
Inter had to make do without Lautaro Martínez and Hakan Çalhanoğlu.
“Sometimes we’re brilliant in big games, and sometimes not,” Akanji said afterwards. “But there’s only one Inter. Sure, we lost to Bodø/Glimt last time in the Champions League, but we’re still the same team, and we can do great things.”
That 3-1 defeat to Bodø/Glimt hangs over them, with the Norwegian underdogs coming to Milan for the second leg on Tuesday.
Saturday’s win makes it seven in a row in the league for Inter, now 10 points ahead of AC Milan, who play Parma on Sunday.
Juventus’ rough patch continues.
Things just keep getting worse for Juventus. After a 5-2 hammering at Galatasaray in the Champions League playoffs, they lost again, this time 2-0 at home to Como, and their Champions League hopes are fading fast.
Como took the lead early. Mërgim Vojvoda scored with a shot Michele Di Gregorio really should’ve kept out, after Weston McKennie lost the ball in midfield. The home crowd let Juve know how they felt with whistles at halftime, and it didn’t get any better after the break.
Lucas da Cunha broke through and teed up Maxence Caqueret for Como’s second in the 61st minute.
That’s three straight losses for Juventus in all competitions. They haven’t won in five games.
“We made too many mistakes, and most of our problems were our own doing,” coach Luciano Spalletti admitted. “The pressure got to us. The quality’s still there, but right now, we’re not showing it. We’re missing a bit of unity, a bit of grit. We need to step up.”
Juve stays fifth, a point behind Roma, who face Cremonese on Sunday. Como sits sixth, just a point behind Juventus. Only the top four teams get a Champions League spot.
In Saturday’s late game, Cagliari and Lazio played out a goalless draw. Cagliari’s Yerry Mina picked up a second yellow late on for a tactical foul just outside the box.
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.
