This weekend’s round of fixtures produced poor showings from Italy’s top four teams. However, Inter Milan and AS Roma seemed to have come out of it a little bit better. They both drew while their counterparts AC Milan and Juventus suffered heavy defeats.
Inter were held 1-1 by lowly Atalanta while Roma and Sampdoria battled for a barren draw. Roma who have significantly improved in the league standings missed the chance to cut down 4th place Parma’s lead over them to just a point.
The talking point however is Juve’s fading competitiveness. Just a few years ago, Juventus was the cream of Italian football. They dominated the Serie A ruthlessly. A majority of their players also featured majorly for their national team the “Azzurri”. In 2006, right after the world cup a match fixing scandal involving the club was exposed. They were eventually stripped of their Italian league success and demoted to the Serie B.
This greatly tarnished the club’s image and it seemed to be the beginning of their downfall. some of their stars could not face the fact that they would be playing football in the Serie B and thus they decided to leave the club. Among those who left was their inspirational captain Fabio Cannavaro.
I think this is where Juve lost the plot. They have never looked as strong as they once were. After beginning the season strongly, Juve’s momentum is withering at a fast rate. Two humiliating successive defeats in the Champion’s League and the Serie A has left the club at a cross-roads. They might be in 3rd position but they are experiencing some turbulent times.
Another top four eclusive member AC Milan suffered a huge defeat on Sunday at home to Palermo. The rossoneri went into this match with an impressive run of of 5 successive Serie A wins and they were looking to make it 6 however, lady luck did not smile on them. Milan were humbled 2-0 and this loss seemed to have brought their coach Leonardo back to earth.
Milan still maintain 2nd position in the league but they know that any more slip-ups will surely put the Serie A title out of their reach.
photo credit: batrax
