The Milanese malaise plumbs new depths of calamity in Serie A

For Serie A’s 20 clubs, the finish line is in sight. The two representing the city of Milan, however, might be starting to wonder what race they have even been running. They had presumed for many months to be part of that elite group chasing after a Champions League berth. Instead, at the end of this gruelling marathon, they find themselves contesting a prize that hardly seems worth winning.

Sixth place is just about all that Inter or Milan can aspire to, after a weekend in which they each hit new depths of calamity. Their prize (barring an implausible collapse from Coppa Italia finalists Lazio, which would offer fresh opportunities to climb higher in any case) would be a spot in the Europa League’s third qualifying round.

To frame that another way: the winners of this race can look forward to having their holidays shortened for a season that begins in July. Might players prefer to lose now than endure such a dubious reward? It is a scandalous suggestion, but one that found its way into several Monday papers as reporters strived to comprehend Inter’s 5-4 defeat at Fiorentina, and Milan’s 2-1 loss at home to Empoli.

The former result might not seem so shocking at a glance. Fiorentina, despite indifferent form, have still only lost one league game this season at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. And yet it was the manner of this defeat, rather than the fact of it, that left Inter’s supporters bewildered.

With an hour gone, they were 2-1 up and pulling out the party tricks. By the 79th, they trailed 5-2. Fiorentina deserve credit for the way they shifted through the gears – Borja Valero and Matías Vecino exploiting the gaps between Inter’s midfield lines and Khouma Babacar taking the first of his two goals especially coolly. All, though, were enabled by opponents whose defensive inattentiveness has become an institutional trait.

Stefano Pioli will carry the can for this collapse, and was reported by some outlets to have attempted to resign afterward. Inter have taken only two points from their past five games, and he looked every bit the defeated man as he reflected that they had “stopped being a team”.

He will be replaced in the summer, but Inter’s capacity for capitulation has now transcended a multitude of different managers, players and ownership groups in the past half-decade. Even the shortest attention spans cannot have forgotten how this club sat top at Christmas last season under Roberto Mancini, yet finished 13 points off a Champions League place.

What will it take to fix this team? The Chinese owners hope substantial investment in a new manager and squad upgrades will do the trick. And certainly if they were to land one of their two mooted top targets – Diego Simeone or Antonio Conte – that would represent a major coup. But the fact remains that this squad ought to be capable of so much more already.

Only Juventus, in Serie A, can boast markedly superior talent. On Saturday, Inter started with Mauro Icardi up front, supported by Ivan Perisic, João Mário and Antonio Candreva. The former has scored 24 league goals this season, including a hat-trick here, while the latter trio are all top-tier internationals.

In central midfield were Geoffrey Kondogbia – now oft-derided but perceived as one of Europe’s hottest prospects when he signed from Monaco two years ago – and the similarly potent Roberto Gagliardini. Ever Banega was an unused sub.

Even in defence, the weakest point of this team, Inter were able to field Gary Medel and Miranda – capped 96 and 39 times by Chile and Brazil, respectively. That partnership lacks pace, a truth ruthlessly exposed at times by Fiorentina, but they are also backed up by one of Serie A’s better goalkeepers in Samir Handanovic – who even saved a penalty this weekend.

It is a different story at Milan, who remain two points ahead of Inter despite thinner resources. Injuries have deprived them of Giacomo Bonaventura and Riccardo Montolivo in midfield, but defeat by Empoli highlighted the mediocrity of their replacements. José Sosa, Matías Fernández and Mario Pasalic were outshone almost single-handedly by the visitors’ No10, Omar El Kaddouri, a player who could not buy a start during his past season and a half at Napoli.

Too often, the Rossoneri have relied on the ruthlessness of Carlos Bacca up front to win them games without playing all that well. Vincenzo Montella’s decision to rest him against Empoli backfired, with Milan mustering 28 shots but only once beating Lukasz Skorupski.

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Just like their neighbours, Milan hope to strengthen in the transfer market. Quite what their financial potential looks like under new owner Yonghong Li, however, remains to be seen.

In any case, both Milan and Inter could take a lesson from the teams immediately above them. Atalanta lost 7-1 to the Nerazzurri in March, but that is the only defeat they have suffered in 13 games. They beat Bologna 3-2 this weekend, strengthening their grip on fifth – and with it, automatic Europa League qualification – despite having a wage budget less than one-quarter the size of Inter’s.

Even Lazio, one point ahead in fourth after their 6-2 rout of Palermo, have been operating on far more modest resources than either of the Milan sides. Money, it turns out, is not the only necessary building block for success.

Perhaps there is some element of motivation at play. Atalanta, at least, are genuinely enthused by the prospect of Europa League qualification, unsurprisingly for a club whose last foray into continental competition came in the now defunct Anglo-Italian Cup.

The Milanese malaise, though, runs deeper than this. They might be underwhelmed by the prize they see on offer this May. But if they have failed to put themselves in contention for greater rewards, it is only because they were tripping over themselves long before the finish line came into view.

Talking points

Mattia De Sciglio’s flirtations with Juventus have long cost him the affections of a section of Milan’s fanbase, and he was jeered throughout a poor performance against Empoli. Far more troubling, though, was what went on as he tried to leave San Siro afterwards. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, his car was set upon by an angry fan, leading first his father and then mother to exit the vehicle in an attempt to calm this individual. Instead, the situation is reported to have escalated, with De Sciglio’s mother receiving a shove and a bottle of beer being thrown against the car. The situation was broken up by onlookers but police were required to get the player and his family back into the stadium garage as others arrived and threatened to escalate the situation. At least one arrest was made but this can hardly serve to heal the relationship between player and supporters.

Empoli have now taken an improbable seven points from their last three games, but they failed to extend their advantage over 18th-placed Crotone - who themselves have now taken 10 from the last four. They won 2-1 at Sampdoria, but only after Patrik Schick put in another star turn for the Blucerchiati – borrowing a page from the Dennis Bergkamp playbook.

Leo Who? After neutralising Messi in the Champions League, Leonardo Bonucci decided to show us that he can match the Argentinian at the other end of the pitch, as well.

And while we’re doing goals from defenders, Davide Zappacosta’s finish for Torino against Chievo is worth looking up too.

Arkadiusz Milik scored his first since returning from the knee injury that sidelined him for so much of what had begun as a highly promising first season at Napoli. He has been used sparingly by Maurizio Sarri over the past two months, starting games only in the Coppa Italia, and only coming off the bench with a little less than 10 minutes left to play on Sunday. It’s quite understandable that the manager has been reluctant to change a winning system with Dries Mertens up front, but it will be interesting to see whether he chops and changes more next season, adopting more of a ‘horses for courses’ approach with such very different options at centre-forward.

Results: Fiorentina 5-4 Inter; Atalanta 3-2 Bologna; Juventus 4-0 Genoa; Udinese 2-1 Cagliari; Sampdoria 1-2 Crotone; Milan 1-2 Empoli; Lazio 6-2 Palermo; Chievo 1-3 Torino; Sassuolo 2-2 Napoli. Monday night: Pescara v Roma.