Juventus 2-1 AC Milan
When Juventus can rest their star man Cristiano Ronaldo for a game of this magnitude, you know the Serie A title is in the bag.
I had a pre-match feeling SBOBET fans that the five-time Ballon D’Or winner may be on the bench, but coach Max Allegri didn’t include him in the squad altogether!
The midweek Champions League tie with Ajax was clearly on his mind but to not include CR7 from this giant of a fixture showed just how close Juve are to wrapping up the title early, even by their standards.
Make no mistake, with or without Ronaldo, the Serie A betting odds point one way and one way only.
Highlights of the game
Before kick-off, the Bianconeri had 26 wins, three draws and only one defeat – no team in Serie A history had built up an 18-point lead over the side in second place at this stage of the campaign.
It certainly seemed ominous for Milan, the last team to beat the Old Lady to the league title, back in 2011, and desperate to turn back the clock to better days.
Only 17 seconds had elapsed when visiting goalkeeper Pepe Reina flapped at a cross, before Milan countered and Krzysztof Piatek nodded wide in a high-tempo start.
The home side lost Emre Can midway through the first half as he was unable to shake off an early knock and it was encouraging to see the return of Sami Khedira in his first game since heart surgery.
Chances were at a premium and, although Franck Kessie scuffed a shot wide and Milan should have been awarded a penalty for an Alex Sandro handball, it was hard to see the deadlock being broken until Piatek did just that six minutes before half-time.
Leonardo Bonucci, who ‘expressed himself badly’ with his comments earlier this week regarding racist abuse suffered by team-mate Moise Kean, gave the ball away and the charging Tiemoue Bakayako played in the Pole who coolly picked his spot.
It was yet another one of the Serie A highlights from the talented frontman.
The half drew to a close in the same manner in which it had started, with Reina in action, although this time the Spanish goalkeeper – in for the injured Gianluigi Donnarumma – fingertipped a Mario Mandzukic volley away when it seemed Juve may level before the break.
Piatek called Wojciech Szczesny into action early in the second half as Milan chased a second to give them the cushion they so craved and to make amends for a day to forget earlier in the season.
A short time later, the lead was wiped out unnecessarily.
Mateo Musacchio mistimed a tackle on Paulo Dybala and the Argentine dusted himself up to send Reina the wrong way from the spot.
An hour played and game on.
Both sides pressed for a winner as it took desperate visiting defending to keep out Rodrigo Bentancur before Milan played in Piatek who ran out of pitch as he threatened to run clear.
Substitute Kean has the ball in the net but was adjudged to have fouled his marker in the build-up, while Frederico Bernardeschi fired wide as Juventus chased a winner.
But after a week in which he has endured some pretty rough treatment, it had to be the talented teenager who had the final say.
Six minutes were on the clock when Davide Calabria played the ball to the opposition and Miralem Pjanic intercepted and found Kean who finished with aplomb – a fifth consecutive goal for club and country.
If Napoli lose to Genoa tomorrow, Juventus will be crowned Italian champions for the eighth consecutive season.
Allegri remains on course to become the first-ever coach to win five successive Serie A titles (although he would still lag one behind Giovanni Trapattoni’s record total of seven).
The fat lady is all but singing – the old lady are on the brink of the title yet again!
Key statistics
Juventus are still able to beat the record points tally (102) they set in 2013-14 which they captured under Antonio Conte. They can also surpass Inter Milan’s all-time high of 15 away wins in a single season.
Juventus players wore black armbands in memory of Gianfranco Leoncini. The former Bianconeri player, who passed away yesterday, aged 79, played for the Turin club for 12 seasons.
This was the 31st different starting XI Allergi has named in 31 Serie A matches this term.
Juventus are unbeaten in seven Serie A home matches in which they were trailing at half-time (won three, drawn four), since a 4-1 defeat by Parma in January 2011 (when they were also 1-0 behind at the break).
Piatek has 10 goals in 13 matches for Milan.
What’s next?
Juventus now briefly put their title campaign to one side to face Ajax in the Champions League. Both legs of their quarter-final tie is sandwiched by a league encounter at lowly SPAL a week today.
Milan now host Lazio and then travel to Milan before hosting Lazio again in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final with the score poised at 0-0.
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