BEVERLY HILLS, April 28, (THEWILL) – On April 20, THEWILL article on the return of Cristiano Ronaldo for Juventus to help in the Old Lady’s fight to finish as one of the top four sides in Serie A noted that Victor Osimhen’s Napoli had gained grounds on Juve especially after picking up a vital point by halting the winning run of potential champions Inter Milan.
With that win, fifth-placed Napoli, at the time, came to be only two points removed from Juve, who were fourth in the standings of Serie A.
The difference meant that Pirlo’s charges were placed in a tight spot and THEWILL warned that they could barely afford to be sloppy if they are to finish the season with any comfort at all as they had no chance to defend the Scudetto, had been knocked out of Europe again and were on the verge of not qualifying for elite European football if they ended outside the top four.
Andrea Pirlo’s Juve did not heed the warning. On Sunday, away to Fiorentina, at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, they needed the finishing of substitute Alvaro Morata to draw level against the hosts and failed to find the finishing touch to take all three points. The draw took Pirlo’s side to third behind the two Milan clubs but in danger of a drop out of the top four completely.
And that was exactly what Osimhen and teammate Tiemoue Bakayoko delivered when they scored for Napoli in their 2-0 victory against Torino to take Gennaro Gattuso’s side into the hallowed slot of fourth in the standings.
Osimhen’s seven goals in 19 matches may not be much, but must be taken contextually with the fact that he was sidelined by a shoulder fracture, COVID-19 and head trauma all while giving his all to help the team climb up and with his teammates help save Gattuso’s job after the manager was nearly fired for a club-wide dip in form earlier in the season.
Those goals now count because Napoli is level with Juve on 66 points, but leapfrogged them in the standings due to their superior goal difference, as they are both even in head-to-head record for the season.
The battle for Europe however remained a fierce game of musical chairs through Monday’s fixtures because third-placed AC Milan, who also have 66 points faced Lazio and were well and truly beaten 3-0. What that immediately resulted in was a change in the standings from what it was prior to the game. Milan became the team to drop out of the top four while Napoli climbed to third and Juve returned to European contention in fourth.
Like any game of musical chairs, it is a changing set of circumstances but revealing in the sense that at an initial point of the 2020/2021 season, there was a genuine belief that Milan was ready for the return of the Scudetto to the capital as their veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was reversing time and making the team believe again. All that now lies in a long forgotten past.
There is every possibility that Milan will force through back into the top four before the end of the season just as it is possible that one of Napoli, Juve or Milan (or maybe even Atalanta) may still drop off contention for a spot in Europe for next season. For now, Milan will be praying that things change in their favour before the end of the season.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
