7 draws in 10 matches — the big games in Matchday 32 didn’t shift the league’s balance, except for Atalanta-Lazio…
Matchday 32 of Serie A slipped by with disappointments and missed opportunities. It could have been a round full of twists, upsets, and confirmations, but instead, it turned out to be a transitional weekend that left the league’s standings and power dynamics essentially unchanged, both in the Scudetto race and in the battle for European qualification.
Inter stumbled in Parma, blowing a 2-0 lead and settling for a 2-2 draw — not a good sign for a team widely considered the strongest in Serie A. Despite wearing the tricolor badge on their jerseys, they still seem to lack that winning DNA that would protect them from inexplicable lapses. Perhaps their minds were already on the looming Champions League clash with Bayern Munich. Everyone knows that European matches drain physical and mental energy. Maybe Inzaghi’s men thought they could cruise to three points in energy-saving mode once they went two goals up — but that kind of approach no longer works in Serie A, not against anyone.
Napoli under Conte did even worse. They had the advantage of playing after already knowing Inter’s result, yet they too threw away a lead on the road — just the latest in a string of squandered advantages this season. What stood out most in Napoli’s match in Bologna wasn’t so much the final result — which is somewhat understandable against the league’s most in-form side — but the manner in which the draw happened. Italiano’s side dominated all 90 minutes, pinning Conte’s team back into their own half for the entire second half. Napoli barely managed to cross midfield.
The three-way title race we were talking about a month ago now feels like a distant memory. The third team in the mix, which hoped to benefit from the other two clashing, has melted away like snow in the sun — Gasperini’s Atalanta is no longer there. Their third straight defeat came at home against Lazio. For the Biancocelesti, it was a huge win after three matches without three points — all the more so because none of the other top 9 teams managed to win this weekend.
As for Bologna, they drew at home with Napoli. Juventus and Roma canceled each other out at the Olimpico with a 1-1 draw — a game that Roma seemed more focused on not losing than actually trying to win. Tudor’s Juventus looked slightly better, though they still showed worrying offensive sterility, only broken by a superb long-range volley from Locatelli that gave them a first-half lead — later wasted due to yet another defensive lapse early in the second half. Defensive fragility has been a theme for the Bianconeri in this second half of the season. The team that once rarely allowed scoring chances has vanished. Since Bremer’s injury, as outgoing coach Thiago Motta recently noted, everything has changed. Another concern is the regression of Vlahovic, who now seems like a shadow of the dominant striker once compared to Haaland. Already sidelined by Motta, the highest-paid player in Serie A risks being benched again by Tudor unless he starts finding the net consistently — which, after all, is his job.
Milan is full of players who’ve lost their way this season. The team seems to lack both heart and identity. Leao and Theo Hernandez have been discussed at length, but it’s worth focusing on the January signings, who were supposed to shake up the hierarchy and raise the team’s technical level enough to push them into the Champions League. Except for Walker, they all started on the bench against Fiorentina. Joao Felix is even flakier than the worst version of Robinho in a Milan jersey, and Gimenez couldn’t score if he used his hands. Surprisingly, it was Abraham and Jovic — the two least expected — who dug Milan out of trouble. Milan might be the season’s biggest disappointment, but watch out for Gasperini’s Atalanta too: a team that went from top-tier to free fall in a flash and now finds itself sucked into the pack. If they miss out on Champions League qualification, it would be a spectacular — and unforgivable — failure.
