Inter also slows down against Cagliari (2-2). In the derby against Milan they will need to win

You brake and I’ll brake too. Perhaps due to the exaggerated heat, almost at the end of the championship, there is a strange air of demobilization at the top of the table. We move forward, but in slow motion. Slowly, without judgement.
Starting with Inter who, at San Siro with Cagliari, thanks to the overly festive atmosphere for the imminent championship, did not go beyond a draw (2-2) which in the end was almost more difficult for Ranieri’s team, now safe given that they now have a 5 point lead over the third from last place.

And therefore, as if a skilled screenwriter had had a hand in it, to win the scudetto in the next derby with Milan (Monday 22 April), Inter will need a victory. Because even the Rossoneri, in the afternoon, in a surreal match in Reggio Emilia, had an impact (3-3) with Sassuolo.
And so here it is, the derby of truth: a derby with a bang that takes on the contours of a challenge at the Ok Corral, because, let’s face it, for Inter it would be the greatest pleasure to have the celebration of the Scudetto coincide with a new blow to the cousins ​​who from as many as five derbies do not see the ball and which, in the last week, have fallen back into one of their usual cyclical storms.

However, Inter is not bursting with health. It’s true that the air of the second star chases away bad thoughts, but some creaks with Cagliari were noticed. Especially in defense where the Nerazzurri, twice in the lead (Thuram and a penalty from the infallible Calhanoglu), were caught again a bit like chickens first by Shomurodov and then by Nicolas Viola, who already scored last Sunday in the victorious match against L ‘Atalanta. There were some veiled protests for a touch of the arm considered not to be punishable by Lapadula, but it should be remembered that Viola himself, in the final, twice came close to making it 3-2. Well done to Cagliari who, once again, made some winning changes with Ranieri. However, Inter were less on track and, laughing and singing, missed the opportunity to surpass Juventus’ record (2013-2014) of 102 points. Patience, you can’t have everything.

Sassuolo-Milan (3-3), surreal draw

And Milan? From rags to riches. In four days, losing the first match against Roma on Thursday and then with this flashy draw (3-3) on Sunday with Sassuolo, Milan have taken back all the more or less disinterested praise received after the brilliant streak of seven consecutive victories. And now everyone is feasting on Pioli’s future. There is already talk of Roberto De Zerbi and Vincenzo Italiano and even a Spanish coach, Julien Lopetegui, who was naturally left without the bench. Everything seems to be in the hands of Ibrahimovic to whom Gerry Cardinale has practically handed over the keys to Milan, as if it were Saint Peter’s. One wonders what experience, as a manager, Ibra has to intervene on such delicate pieces of a team that is still second in the standings. But these are questions that have no answers. Everything is played on emotion. In two games you go well or you go badly. Meanwhile Pioli, rightly, navigates by sight. “The future? First we have to win the derby,” he replies with his usual pragmatism, knowing he can count on the trust of his faithful. But lately they leave something to be desired.

The defeat against Roma is not the end of the world, agreed. The games are still open, but there are some appointments where you have to arrive with the famous eyes of the tiger. Net of one-nil, which could have even been a draw if Giroud hadn’t missed an almost indecent goal, De Rossi’s team entered the field with that special spirit essential in these matches. The Devil, on the other hand, was a little devil with his three most representative players (Leao, Teo Hernandez, Giroud) in soporific mode. In Reggio Emilia, a “pastiche” not to be taken too seriously, Pioli’s team, largely restructured, managed to go 3-1 down against Sassuolo, the second-to-last in the standings. Then it’s true that Chukwueze had two goals disallowed (offside) for a matter of millimetres. And that after the home team’s initial two-nil, Leao emerged from his state of hypnosis to make it 2-1 and offer the ball to make it 3-2 to Jovic.