SOCCER:MUCH AS expected, AC Milan wrapped up their 18th Italian league title, their first for seven seasons, on Saturday night when holding AS Roma to a 0-0 draw at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
With two games to play, Milan now lead the outgoing champions, Inter Milan, by six points. Even if Inter were to win their final two games to draw level with AC Milan, they will still lose out on the head-to-head, since AC Milan won both city derbies this season, 1-0 last November and 3-0 last month.
Speaking after the game, Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri, in his first season with the club, was quick to concede that last month’s derby win represented the watershed moment in this season’s campaign. Milan had gone into that game under pressure, having seen Inter reduce a one-time 13 point lead to just two points. However, a first-minute Milan goal that night just about sealed the Serie A title, there and then.
“We deserve to win the title, we’ve stuck at it with determination. Clearly, that derby win (last month), which saw us stretch our lead over Inter, was the decisive moment in the season . . . More in general, what was decisive for us was our defence, an iron-cast defence helps you win titles,” said a delighted Allegri after the game.
Against Roma, the newly crowned champions made full use of that solid defence, especially in a first half when the side looked nervous in the face of an aggressive Roma side still heavily involved in a three-way fight (with Udinese and Lazio) for the fourth Champions League berth next season. Having survived everything that Roma could throw at them in the first half, Milan opened more purposefully in the second half, with Robinho hitting the post in the 48th minute. From that point on, Milan appeared in control of a game in which a 0-0 draw suited them fine.
Missing from the Olympic Stadium on Saturday night was AC Milan’s most famous fan, namely owner and Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Having watched the game on television in his private residence in Arcore, near Milan, Berlusconi expressed the hope that Milan would now go on to qualify for the final of the Italian Cup by eliminating Palermo in a semi-final clash in Sicily tomorrow night: “Now, we really must try to win the Italian Cup. If Dr Allegri pulls that one off, I will be especially generous in the transfer market this summer . . . ”
Milan’s Champions League exit this season at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur did not much impress Berlusconi whose remarks would indicate the side will be significantly strengthened this summer.
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