THE 2021-22 Italian title race promises to be one of the more interesting in Europe as four teams slug it out at the top of Serie A. Italian clubs have suffered during the pandemic, running up big losses and carrying large amounts of debt, but on the pitch, the campaign is shaping up nicely.
AC Milan reminded everyone they are back in the mix with an exciting 2-1 win against Inter Milan at the San Siro, thanks to a late burst from Olivier Giroud, who scored two goals after Inter led from the first half. Milan’s victory ended a 14-game unbeaten run for Inter. It was only the Nerazzuri’s second league defeat of the campaign. But this was not the ideal preparation for Inter’s next game which is a gruelling trip to Napoli on February 12. This is a six-pointer if ever there was one for Napoli are in second place and one point behind Inter, who have a game in hand.
However, victory for Luciano Spalletti’s team will put pressure on Simone Inzaghi at Inter and also get people talking about a possible Napoli scudetto. It’s now 32 years since Diego Maradona’s team won Serie A for the second time in a four-year period between 1987 and 1990. Napoli strengthened their bid with a 2-0 win at Venezia’s Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo on the banks of the Venice lagoon.
They were boosted by the return of Victor Osimhen, who cost the club € 70 million when he joined from Lille in 2020. Osimhen, just 23, has been hampered by injury and illness since arriving in Naples and the Venezia game was his first since November. He headed Napoli ahead and prompted coach Spalletti to urge his players to play to the strengths of the big Nigerian striker.
Milan’s win was their first in Serie A this season against the challengers and they have a vital clash on March 6 in Naples. They did well to recover from a first half in which Inter dominated and took the lead. It was a vital turnaround because a defeat would have put seven points between the two Milanese clubs.
The mood at Milan is definitely in the ascendancy, not just on the field but also behind the scenes. The club’s financial performance, while still concerning, has improved significantly with revenues in 2020-21 climbing by 40% to € 241 million and losses down from € 192 million to € 92 million. The club has net debts of € 101 million. The recovery of Milan was always going to take time, but there are green shoots emerging.
The only real downer in 2021-22 for Milan has been their early exit in the Champions League, but with Liverpool, Atlético Madrid and Porto in their group, it was no great surprise to see them struggle.
While Milan have reasons to be cheerful, Inter’s financial position is still worrying because of the problems faced by their owner, Suning of China. Inter not only lost € 240 million, but their net debt increased by 16% and their wage-to-income ratio was up to 74%. On top of that, they lost coach Antonio Conte and star striker Romelu Lukaku. The Chelsea striker has, quite bizarrely, been making noises about returning to Italy and has been pictured wearing an Inter shirt. Inter have been playing good football and the signing of veteran target man Edin Džeko, Lukaku’s cut-price replacement, has proved to be successful.
Inter’s wage bill is around € 100 million more than their San Siro stable-mates, but Juventus remain the biggest payers in Italy with wages almost hitting the € 300 million mark. Juventus have had a difficult campaign, welcoming back Max Allegri after the departure of Andrea Pirlo and were still coming to terms with the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo earlier in the season. But if there is to be a surprise in the title race, it will surely come from Juve, who may have just made a transformational signing.
Despite making a huge loss in 2020-21 (€ 210 million) and carrying net debt of € 389 million, Juventus were busy in the January transfer window. The much sought-after Dušan Vlahović was signed from Fiorentina for € 70 million and the Serbian striker took just 13 minutes to score on his debut for his new club against Verona. Swiss central midfielder Denis Zakaria, signed from Borussia Mönchengladbach, also scored in his first game.
Juve are unbeaten in 10 league games and are still in the Champions League. They may be eight points behind leaders Inter, but positive momentum is building. Stefano Pioli, the Milan coach, believes Inter and Juve have the strongest squads and nobody is prepared to write off the Turin club.
At this stage, Juve appear to have too much to do, but they have the experience and resources to make a second half bid for the title. It isn’t in their own hands, but they know how to string together long sequences of wins that brush aside rivals. Watch this space, because it will be worth watching in the coming weeks.
GAME OF THE PEOPLE 