78: Pioli's Off Fire

Touch the ball vertically on Lukaku He turns, attention, the shot goes! Goal! Goal! Lukaku! Lukaku! Hello and welcome back to Serie A Spotlight, this is season 2 episode 38 and we are hosts Matt and Jake. We've got a lot to talk about in this episode, we're going to be covering all of matchday 35 as usual along with the Champions League semi-final between Milan and Inter. Yes, unfortunately for us, we currently, we've had a bit of a weird day. So this is the day after,

right? The Champions League game against Inter. Me and Matt both took today off, Matthew you took it off because you had a tattoo appointment and I took it off just in case Milan managed some crazy comeback and the celebrations would be wild. I didn't want to have a time limit you know to restrict me but instead you know the game was more realistic than ideological and of course we ended up home at 11.30. It's miserable, we watched Love Island, Moata, we played five games

of FIFA by the time we're done, it was half past two I think. Yeah, went to bed today, I woke up in the late afternoon. It's been a bit miserable. It has been. So for those of you that didn't tune in strangely in the first leg, Inter got it done essentially in the first 20 minutes of the game and so Rafael Ea wasn't available for that game and Milan conceded two off the get-go. It was a set piece routine from a corner from Inter where Dzeko volleyed into the back of the net. Fanlian

of Calabria was the one marking Dzeko. Think of the height difference there you've got someone that's around six foot four versus someone that's five foot ten and then the second goal came from well Shambolic defending by Milan. It was a long ball across the ground from the left into the center area just outside the box where Mkhitaryan finished cleanly. There was a massive gap to play

the ball in over there. Dzeko was instrumental on both goals. The first one of course getting the better of his man Calabria marked him to be honest perfectly considering the height difference the best he could and the second goal Dzeko you can literally see him pulling Tomori away to free space for Mkhitaryan to run through the middle so that experience over there completely tore Milan

apart. Shortly after and then Ben Nasser went off injured. Just after that there was another injury scare for Milan as Mike Mannion went down flexing his knee but I have looked back at it and apparently well what I think is that he was just trying to win some time for Milan and change that momentum like because Milan as they have been many a time were completely shell shocked at the beginning of the game. The first 20 minutes for Milan are often like that in big games. Milan

struggled to do anything the game was won in the midfield by Inter in the first game. Tonali hit the post at one point getting Milan fans a glimmer of hope but Milan lost 2-0 at home against Inter and then the second leg obviously Milan needed at least two goals to take the game to extra time. Leal was back, Inter played a really defensive line a really low block that didn't allow Milan to do anything on the counter. Diaz was never in space, Leal was never in space, Giroud had to cope with

the three centre backs of Inter there was a massive gap between the midfield and the attack. Milan to be honest they had two very good chances in the first half one especially of Brahim Diaz and then another one of Leal and Leal created it himself. Brahim Diaz on the other hand was the only chance Leal actually had he clearly wasn't at his best. No he was still injured. Yeah I mean it takes three

weeks usually to recover from a muscle injury. This guy was back 10 days later. But yeah Brahim like I said missed quite a big opportunity and then Lautar just put the final nail in the coffin with a very clean finish into the near corner of Mannyan's post and yeah Inter got away with a three-nil victory not quite the Derby de la Madonna and the Champions League semi-finals we were hoping for with hope that both teams would be at their best but it did kind of showcase the

difference between Inter and Milan at this point in time. Yeah there was a tweet that said the Derby de la Madonna you go in for the T4s the game should end then and then the match should be played behind closed doors. Very disappointing. Disappointing yes and it's a shame that Milan really were so rattled early on in the first game but congratulations to Inter who have made

the Champions League final for the first time in 2010. They deserve it they've had a very good campaign this year in the Champions League and it goes to show how a couple of weeks back when we're talking about Inter performing so poorly in the league the players look motivated now they

actually have something to aim for. The vibe is good in the dressing room and you can tell that these players are of great quality and when they're determined when they're motivated when they're driven it works and recently Lukaku was interviewed and he talked about it in Zaghi's rotation system

they do have very good squad depth in there. Granted the players that they've signed are probably worse than the players they had before that they've sold or lost but the signings they made were always smart you know you look at the likes of Darmian, Cherubi, Mkhitaryan these are players with a lot of experience you can still put in a shift for you and they allow you to rotate in the league domestically you know they allow you to participate in three competitions

they're in two finals in there so who would have thought that their season would have been so successful right? Yeah yeah and they had a very slow start to the season they've got a bunch of losses in Syria they struggled for consistency but it just seems like they're much more consistent now and like I said earlier it really showcases the difference between Inter and Milan at this point it looks like Inter are far more into their project than Milan are which isn't the case. It is

the case. Well is it because Milan have had Fioli for three seasons and they got Enzaki two. When it comes to the manager yes but when it comes to the management Inter have had Zang for way longer than Milan have had first of all Milan's owner is new because it's Redbird now before there was Elliott no? Milan had to recover from the disaster that the Chinese left over 250 million euros of debt and debts. Inter are in financial turmoil. They're in financial ruin that's the difference that's the

difference in reality. Inter have a squad that doesn't have much value to it well now that they've made their Champions League final it might be actually a saving grace for them but you look at Milan's project right now the books are finally balanced you know they've been stingy in the markets to try to you know balance them out a bit and finally they're balanced. Now it would be a shame if Milan's spending power were to plummet because of not qualifying for Champions League

you know because that's an extra 50 million. Exactly. That could make all the difference for Milan right now but I think project wise and long term wise Milan are in a good spot and this season has been crucial for Inter. They needed this badly. Yeah just one more point on that game in the second leg it was the 60th minute it was still 0-0 and Milan hadn't made a single substitution yet. 70th minute Milan concede and they make their first two substitutions of the game at the same

time where they brought on Origi and Salimakers. I think that approach now obviously Milan don't have the squad depth that Inter have so you're not going to see many substitutions being carried out from the 45th minute onwards. Because you're arguably worsening your team. Exactly. However, when it's the 60th minute and you've only had two chances very early on in the first half and nothing's quite working shouldn't you make a substitution before the other team scores?

That was very questionable game management by purely in my opinion. The way the game was going everyone was so flustered and nothing was working. Brahim Diaz would drive and lose the ball every time he got it. Messias to be honest same thing over there. Giroud wasn't in the game at all and granted the options of the bench aren't great but Origi looked good when he came on against Inter and he was the best player. Salimakers had goal of the month last month and he has been playing

pretty decently. So why not give those guys a run out? I don't know you need a goal. He made his changes after Inter got that third goal when the game was done so that was extremely questionable. You know that we are purely apologists. We always defend purely. We think that it's not really his fault but granted the depth isn't there for him to work with but he could have made a substitution. There needed to be a substitution made. It was obvious. It was clear as day.

Completely. Completely. What I drafted last night when I was upset and high in the... You were adjourning. Yes I was adjourning. So I wrote purely is on fire and I started to break down that statement that sentence. Purely is on fire. So purely is on fire. That means you have two key themes. You have purely and you have fire. Purely is consistent. Now it's the person. Purely. Fire what do you need for fire? The fire triangle. Oxygen. You need fuel. You need heat.

Let's say the oxygen in this case last season was the talent. We have Leao. We have Tonali. We have Benassir. We have Tomori. We have Kalulu. We have Kesi. All these guys full of life. Full of a point to prove. You know young. Oxygen. Then you have the fuel. You have Maldini and the ownership with their smart signings. You know bringing in Kalulu. Bringing in fucking Tonali. On a bargain. Crotone going down. Dropping two divisions practically. You have all these moves being

made by Maldini that season. They were very good. And then you have finally the heat. You have the Kourvasu. You have the support of the fans. And that after Covid when everyone was in isolation. You go and you have 80,000 people singing your name. That's beautiful. Right. So what changed from this combination? This Mercato. We didn't have the Milan. Didn't have the fuel. No. 35 million and you bring in Charles de Quaita L'Oreal. You know you sell Kesi. You don't replace him. You know

right wingers still avoid. There's Macias and Salamakas. It's not quite good enough. Striker you bring in Origi. Granted we all thought he would have done a bit better. But there wasn't a proven domestic striker. There's no striker scores more than 10 fucking league goals consistently. Even a Weiss Mike for example. We saw how much Tata had struggled last season. Sure he had that Lautaro Martinez penalty save so on and so forth. But don't tell me that it was a good idea to keep

Tata on. Yes. It was a good idea not to replace Tata. Yes. Purely does have his limitations. Particularly when it comes to rotation. His in game management. The set piece set up with the zonal marking for example. But at the end of the day don't tell me that this squad was good enough to be in a semi-final of a Champions League. At the end of the day everyone's calling it this collapse. But round of 16 Milan got through. Quarterfinal Milan got through. Semi-final it's not a collapse.

You just made it very very far. I would say the collapse at the end of the day is in the league. You know. Yeah. Completely. That's it. When you're risking top four and it'd be a shame of this project. This relationship between Milan and Piolli had to end because of a season like this where he put all the eggs in the Champions League basket where he had a one percent chance of winning it. But then it's inexcusable when you look at for example the way that the team changed after that

2-2 draw against Roma. The 80th minute in that Roma game Milan were flying. Milan were flying. Before that sure there was a weird draw against Sassuolo but Milan were close to Napoli in that part of the season. And then the time after the World Cup came about. Mike got injured. Milan got riddled with injuries and they got demotivated. And France lost the World Cup. Everyone became shit. Piolli had to change to a 3-5-2 then a 3-4-3. Scrape through spurs somehow. Scrape through spurs.

But if you were to tell me three seasons ago Milan just lose out on Champions League getting fifth place on the final matchday and Gattuso get sacked. Milan signed John Paolo. Opening nine games disaster. Some of the worst football I've ever seen Milan play. Suso playing as an attacking midfielder. Everything was as a treco artista. Opening nine games absolute disaster. And then Milan decide let's get this guy Piolli who had a semi-decent stint at Inter.

A semi-decent stint at Fiorentina. A semi-decent stint at where else was he? Fiorentina, Inter, whatever. And Milan decided to get him on board. I was furious. I was furious. I was saying better we kept Gattuso in the first place. If you were to tell me that within two seasons of that with the squad that Milan had with Cutrone up front with who was it? Luis Adriano, Piontek, Piontek and Lea up front as strikers with Suso behind them.

I don't know, Glucassi and Biglia, Ricardo Rodriguez, Musacchio, Romagnoli, Calabria, Donnarumma. And then after two years Piolli wins the league with that team and gets the club back into Champions League twice in a row. All right first time get knocked out in the group stage as you come last in the group and then the second season make it all the way up to the semi-finals when you're

playing Napoli who blew everyone else out of the park in Italy. You beat Spurs, okay Spurs are shit but watch any Italian team against any English team and see how that typically tends to go down in the Champions League at least for Milan. Chelsea were shit this season. You saw what Chelsea did to Milan. Milan tactically beat Spurs. I would have never guessed that Piolli would have the success. He's had incredible highs. He's my favorite manager in history,

in all of history. Piolli is my favorite manager. I think now there are two choices. If Milan get the opportunity to invest and to shake things up maybe there should be a change in management. If the squad is going to remain consistent I don't see the appeal in getting a new manager to try shake things up within the same squad because Piolli knows that squad best. So either Milan are going to shake things up and get in a new manager and get in new players

but if the team is going to remain the same keep Piolli in my opinion. I don't know. I think Piolli should only be kept if top four is achieved. That's it. I think that was the objective at the start of the season. Granted the Champions League spell was very good but at the end of the day you have to prioritize. You can't miss out on top four. You miss out on winning the league. You get second, you get third, you get fourth. Fuck it. You get fifth. Unacceptable. It's a step back in the league.

Especially when you put all your eggs in a basket where you have to face Real Madrid or Manchester City in the final. Good luck winning that. But at the end of the day as we mentioned Piolli it's true he's playing with many positions that need to be backed up. There's no right winger, there's no treco artista. So I wouldn't mind seeing Piolli's system with new signings with adequate replacements for a right wing position that's a striker that's fit and can start 90 minutes every week. A

treco artista that's full of confidence, full of life. I mean we saw certain players in the first season under Piolli. We saw they did in the second season. Maybe CDK is that guy next year. We don't know. But then when you look at the in-game management don't you think that maybe it's just not good enough? Like if... Sometimes yes bro. Sometimes I think it's not good enough.

And are you thinking when you say if Piolli manages to get top four let's say in some lucky world Lazio lose a game and draw two games and Milan win two games whatever and they get to the Champions League even though it's not in Milan's hands Milan get Champions League and Milan decide to keep Piolli because of that stroke of luck. Are you thinking about what's better or what's fair? Because I want to think about what's better as a Milan fan. What's better

is consistency and that's what Milan haven't had in a long time. If the targets, if the objectives of the season are reached the objective was top four. Now they were saying granted title, defense and all that maybe they were saying that for the pressure or whatever. Top four is the minimum. Semi-final of the Champions League isn't bad. No it's not bad. It's an achievement. It's an achievement actually. Yes. So he put the steam on the map the biggest stage the final four teams

in Europe the best competition in the world and Milan are in the last four. You know what I mean? Yes. Like the whole world watching and everyone's like what the fuck is this team? Like how are they here? We're wondering the same thing our Milan there. But yes that's it bro. At the end of the day you replace Piolli who are you going to bring in? That's it as well. Like you're going to bring in Conte. You're going to bring in Conte. I would like to see Conte. Conte will win you the league.

He'll bring in fucking 34 year old players who are past their peak just to serve him during his reign. He'll spend two seasons there maximum. He'll complain the entire time about the players and about the management above him and about the investment. He'll fucking drive you from at the players boring brand of football with the three at the back. I love his fucking you know I feel like it should be a step back. I feel like Conte as a team. Conte is a manager

that you bring in if you desperately need to win the league. If you're like Real Madrid and you haven't won it in three seasons and you need to please the fans. You know Milan have just won the league. You know it's not the fucking priority right now winning the league. Right now is a long term. Milan need to become a superpower again in Europe. How do you do that? You invest young. You keep a stable project. You renew your best players and you

continue to develop and to improve players. Now apparently the the board are rediscussing Maldini and Massara's contract. I mean everything will come out after Champions League lost like that. Exactly. News will always be news. But look I mean we can't get into too much kind of talk about Milan and their future. We can only wait and see what's gonna happen as well as for Inter because

everything is great for them at the minute. But they're still in a top four race. They have a massive Champions League final awaiting them and after that they're gonna need to deal with a lot in the summer because of their financial turmoil. I think we should move into match day 35. I think we should describe our goal of the week. I think we should describe the goal that I was gonna say a really good I was going to a really good segue over here. Match day 35 where there was our goal

of the week from Romelu Lukaku. You did ruin it but fuck it bro. Lukaku's goal. Lukaku's back. Lukaku is back. Lukaback. Lukaka back. I don't think it's Lukaka back. Lukaka back. So he received the ball with his back towards goal totally outside of the box totally out muscling the defender that's trying to fucking get all over him and then he just turns and unleashes a left-footed

rocket into the top corner from distance. Lukaku spoke after the Milan game and he was talking about like he's come a very long way since January he was saying he wasn't fully fit at the World Cup and he wasn't sharp at the World Cup and he went through a lot emotionally and physically after that period. That game where he missed those three chances theory. Henri admitting to having messaged him every single day to check if he's okay and normally he's a bit of a hard ass.

Henri apparently with his players but he said that that's a very difficult thing to go through. We discussed this recently we said that during the World Cup that particular game where he missed those three chances those three clear cut chances he disappointed his entire country so his entire country fucking hates him for it right. Everyone's like oh Lukaku fucking hell what I missed what I

missed like we can't rely on this guy. This guy's in the future of the fucking national team and then the rest of the world is laughing at him so he has absolutely no one on his side this guy.

No one man no one and especially after the controversy of last season what he did when he was at Chelsea as well he would have hoped he'd have it a bit easier this season but bless him bro he's back there was also that whole thing where there were a lot of racist comments past words him from January onwards as well so I love a fucking fighter man I love someone that that when going through all of this they just keep going and keep going and keep going and Lukaku

has had the last quarter of the season he's been a star for Inter and now his value is going up now winter are gonna miss him next season if they don't obviously find a way. If they win the Champions League he's theirs. Probably probably but yes how about our bets of the week brother? We forgot we forgot so we got 50 euro and put it on Real Madrid to make the final. Exactly. We'll see what happens if if Real Madrid make the final guys we have new mics which is a perfect

segue into our Patreon. Check our Instagram keep an eye on our Instagram we have made a Patreon we'll be giving you bonus content the fee is 3.99 per month and that's if you want to support us guys if you want this podcast to improve if you enjoy our content it's all free we're not going to make it paid content you know yeah we'll just give you bonus stuff you can interact with us more we'd really appreciate it if you gave a little something back you know yeah exactly and with that being

said also within the very near future we are going to be working with other entities such as betting companies so on so forth and in order to get you guys great promo codes in order for you to be able to maximize your betting for example you put in a certain amount to play with and you get a return of further credits for you to have more money to play with essentially. So we will be working on that and we'll be sure to keep you guys updated on any promo codes that we have.

And our studio is currently having the sound proofing attached in the soffit so that's that's

exciting as well very exciting we'll have some some big things coming up. What we also have coming up is finally describing matchday 35 to you guys but after 23 minutes before we do with that I'll just give you guys the classic rundown so to start things off it's going to be Monza handing Napoli only their fourth defeat of the season after defeating them two goals to nil Inter beating Sassuolo with the score of 4-2 Lukaku getting two goals over there Spezia getting out of the

relegation zone and sending Milan out of the Champions League zone by beating them two nil Lazio only managing a draw against Lecce who a massive massive point for Lecce and a massive two points lost for Lazio Salernitana won at Alanta nil lovely last minute goal for Contreva in a game that looked to me like it was going to be cancelled halfway through because the storm was torrential and I've never described the storm as torrential in my life that's a beautiful word bro thank you

bro Juventus Cremona is a nil no real surprises over there Bologna nil Roma nil in an injury riddled fixture Verona nil Torino won Verona back down to 18th place and Sampdoria won and Polly won yeah shall we? We shall so let's start very briefly with Monza and Napoli and I say very briefly

because there's not much to play for over here. I mean these guys Monza played against a bunch of hungover Napolitans no and that's pretty much everyone for the rest of the the season but I have a question for you bro losing games like this will it do the squad harm in the long run?

I don't think so because they know what mindset they're in right now they know if they want to switch it up they can switch it up I don't think they're going there and putting their bodies and their lives on the line like they did throughout the earlier 34 games throughout the season I think they're capable of turning it up I think it's a choice you see the squad that they fielded they rested a couple of players as well such as Kvaratskelia, Di Lorenzo, Lozano, Poletano

yeah the keeper as well Maret so I think they're very aware and I think they're just trying to not get injured not outrun their players and just enjoy and give some people a run about basically

what do you think? I don't know I look at Spalletti and I see him fuming on the sideline you know at the end of the day he still wants his players to do well no matter who he's feeling no matter what he's won winning is addictive right yes I don't think it's that big of a deal though I think that right now they understand that they've achieved what they have to achieve now it's time to play with the squad test out a few players see what you can get but you don't want you don't want

a dry spell for your goal scorers for example for a long period of time no no Ozzy man's come down with the flu by the way he'll most likely be missing the inter again oh how come how fucking convenient that is hey bro that's fucking great isn't it the previous encounter was a 4-0 victory for Napoli but in this game Monza managed a 2-0 victory Monza lined up in a 3-4-1-2 formation with the Gregorian goal and the back line of Caldirola Marlon and Itso Marlon right Santos yes yes okay

I'm not going crazy they decided to change his name to Santos on this Carlos Augusto on the left and Churia on the right with a double pivot of Pessina and Ravella Mota just ahead of them with Caprari and Petania up front for Napoli they played a 4-2-3-1 formation with Goliń Jengoul and the back line of Breszynski Rachmani Jesus and Olivera double pivot of Angus and Lobotka with Elmas out on the right Zerbin out on the left and Zielinski playing behind Ozzyman so in the first

minute Zielinski almost scored it was just after 12 seconds he almost scored but he fired over from a tight angle and then Monza opened the scoring shortly after in the 15th minute and they took the lead with a well-worked counter attack sparked by Nicolo Ravella as Caprari Augusto and Pessina combined for a Mota to bundle over the line at the far post lovely piece of play this is the way Monza play they're so good on counters in the 30th minute just 15 minutes later Carlos Augusto set up

Andrea Petania from 12 yards but the striker slipped and ballooned the ball over the bar in the 40th minute Di Gregorio got a good save on Zamba and Guissa game after game this Di Gregorio guy is just proving to be a top top top goalkeeper and I think he's in the right place man of course bro in the 50th minute just after half time Petania scored and got Monza second goal of the game he fired low into the near bottom corner after fainting his opponent a bit of Ronaldo Nazario

over there a bit of a bit of an Elf Phenomenal shake before shooting was it necessary I don't know but he gave us a little bit of a shake as well it's always good when BBW shake oh yeah in the 60th minute Di Gregorio got down to fingertip Olivera's header off the line at the bottom corner wait you're telling me Di Gregorio fingered Olivera that was Jake Fenick but yes a lovely save once again by Di Gregorio Napoli had a couple of penalty appeals waved away one was from Ossimen

and the other from Palletano but the referee said nothing doing over there and in the 80th minute Petania almost scored an own goal but that was that Monza managed a 2-0 victory I mean there's not much we can get into on this game I think obviously Monza had a very good performance very very good on the counter attack and even though Napoli have won the league it's no easy feat going up against them I think what you saw is them really taking the game to Napoli

and showcasing how far this team has come and how good they are in such a short period of time and of course the motivation for Monza to beat Napoli would be way more significant than the motivation for Napoli to beat Monza right of course but Monza have defeated another giant at the end of the day Di Gregorio super game Pescina super game Caldi Rolla solid at the back Danny Mota showing I often talk about Danny Mota and how when he was in Ceiba I thought he didn't

have it right he was one of those donkey players kind of but he is a different animal in Ceiba and he's proving to be versatile as well he can play anywhere man he's a check what is said this game starting off at least yeah so yeah he's actually outperforming the likes of Caprari and Petania so very good for him great great for Monza yeah and in fact on that point Monza have only lost one of their last 11 league matches and it was a tunnel loss against Lazio on the 2nd of

April and no team have done better than that since the beginning of March in Serie A however Salernita and Adou match that record over the their past 11 matches as well Una mattina So svegliato But Napoli obviously champions 83 points nothing to discuss over there Monza climb up to ninth place on 49 points level with Fiorentina in eighth Torino and Torino in 10th The next game we're going to be covering is Inter 4 Sassuolo 2 Inter defeated Sassuolo in a thrilling

six goal match to move ahead of Lazio into third place Romelu Lukaku celebrated his birthday this game he scored a 10-4 here we are again he contributed greatly to Inter's victory scoring twice despite initially leading 3-0 Inter faced some very tense moments this game as Sassuolo fought back coming into this game Sassuolo had only won one of their previous eight Serie A matches against Inter but Inter had won just one of their previous seven home matches against Sassuolo in Serie A

Inter have won their last five Serie A games scoring an average of 3.5 goals per game my god now giving a break Inter lined up with a 3-5-2 formation classic Simona and Zaghi just leaving everything as is now from the Conte days no I'm kidding this is also Simona's system don't take away anything from him Handanovic was in goal this time rotation the rotation system we spoke about in the opening yes the pressing conversation we had this quarter Alceribe,

De Vries and D'Ambrosio were at the back with Di Marco on the left Bélanova on the right Mkhitaryan, Brozovic and Gagliardini were in the middle with Romelu Lukaku and Correa up front for Sassuolo it was Concilie in goal, Tollian as the right back Rogerio as the left back, Ruwan Tressaldi who is gonna get a roasting today yeah I know why alongside Erlich Frattesi, Maxime Lopez and Henrique were in the middle with Berardi out on the right, Laurenti out on the left and Defrel

up front and a little bit of vomit in Jake's mouth thank you sorry this is un-briquing because we are currently drinking some Stella Artois bro I don't know why you love Stella Artois it's to me second to Moretti if they don't have and Moretti comes in packs of four Stella comes in packs of six so I typically get Stella instead oh yeah oh yeah shout out to Stella yes Sassuolo thought they had taken an early lead as Domenico Berardi scored from a Lorienta cross but after a long

voil check the goal was disallowed due to Armand Lorient being in an offside position. Correa's header shortly after for Inter narrowly missed the top corner keeping the scoreline goalless shortly after that Correa found the back of the net but the offside flag went up ruling out the goal Concilie over there giving us a gentle reminder as to how shit he can be Matthews Henrique squandered a golden opportunity for Sassuolo heading wide Berardi's cross and then

finally in the 41st minute goal Romelu Lukaku broke the deadlock for Inter he received the ball with his back towards goal he turned Ruwan Tressoldi inside out and unleashed a powerful shot from outside the box finding the top corner what a goal what a goal what a goal yes sir our goal of the week and Ruwan Tressoldi's first mistake of the match in the 46th minute Correa was substituted due to a slight muscle issue making way for Lautaro Martinez in the 55th minute goal

Inter doubled their lead with a stroke of luck I'm gonna keep doing it you know it's a Forza notification you're watching a game and your phone just goes go it's the worst feeling in the world yeah so in the 55th minute Inter doubled their lead with a stroke of luck Raul Bellanova delivered a cross and Ruwan Tressoldi shinned the clearance into his own net all right so that's one own goal one mistake on Lukaku two mistakes in the game so far in the 58th minute almost immediately after

the own goal Inter extended their advantage as Lautaro Martinez's shot deflected off guess who let me guess Tressoldi yes and back into his own net this time it counted as Martinez's goal because of course the shot was on target Inter took a commanding three in a lead in the 63rd minute Sassuolo managed to pull one back as Berardi floated a beautiful cross to the back post and Mathews Henrique headed into the back of the net reducing the deficit to 3-1

Henrique Andrea Pinamonte came close to scoring for Sassuolo as his angled drive hit the post providing a warning to Inter for what's to come in the future and in the 77th minute just a couple of minutes later Sassuolo actually continued their comeback as Frattesi got in front of Aslani no sorry not Anna Aslani but the Aslani got in front of Aslani to Nordin Rogerius cross making it 3-2 Sassuolo was within striking distance of an equalizer but they committed a little bit

too much to it and in the 89th minute they were punished as Lukaku secured his brace on his birthday for Inter's victory he latched onto a precise through ball from Marcelo Brozovic and fired across Concelli into the far bottom corner extending the lead to 4-2 the match ended it was thrilling 4-2 victory for Inter over Sassuolo despite Sassuolo's valiant comeback effort they just couldn't keep up with Inter we thought Kirikas was the problem for Sassuolo we thought

Ferrari was the problem for Sassuolo we thought Tresoldi was the problem for Sassuolo turns out maybe it's deeper than that. I think well we haven't really seen Sassuolo invest anything in improving their defense which has been the clear factor as to why Sassuolo aren't the big game

players within the top 10. I don't expect them to finish in the top 7 particularly when they're selling players left right and center but when they have the quality that they have because they do have quality they have a lovely midfield three that I love watching personally and their front three well two of them are absolutely fucking deadly and then you've got the guy down the middle working for the wingers you would think that this team could you know push for conference league this

team can can push for the top 10 which they are pushing for top 10 but unfortunately they have a massive hole in this defense that really limits what they can do and Concelli gets exposed because of it they get caught on the counter because of it and they get bombarded and they lose and they concede four goals and they lose because of that. Tresoldi is one of those pawns that

that is under fire for that reason. Yes he's 23 years old at least he has age on his side this was a particularly bad game for him I mean he's never looked great but he's never looked this bad in all fairness to him and if there's a team that you want to look bad against or that you choose to look bad against it would be the team that's in the champions league finally.

Fuck it. He also had a very unlucky showing because a deflection is a deflection yeah and the own goal it happens and you said that the first goal was a mistake from his end it was just Lukaku outplaying him in the area that he knows he can outplay him as he's outplayed many atop players. Exactly so I think Ruwan had a very bad showing in this game but I don't think he

should be he's definitely not the reason as to why Sassuola's defense is the way it is. Yeah no in fact in the 64th minute Dionisi brought on Ferrari for Ruwan right and Lukaku's goal at the end you

can see him destroying Ferrari yeah he doesn't destroy anyone. Exactly exactly. But yes bro Inter right now you look at where they stand in the league this was a massive victory for them they currently sit in 66 they've got Napoli up next Victor Ozyman has the flu everyone in Naples is hungover every day always right they're hungover or drunk right now with the celebrations

it's been 30 years good on them. Napoli might not look at this game as a game that's very important to win right considering that they might be they might want to spite Milan for kicking them out of the Champions League and beating them 4-0. Yeah I wouldn't put it past Napoli to do that to be honest. If Napoli just spread their legs wide open and let Inter continue to cement that top

four finish hoping that Milan would finish outside the top four I would not be surprised. Yeah there's also however on the contrary to that I guess since Inter are in the Champions League final representing Italy in the Champions League final Napoli will be a bit bitter that it wasn't them they would have liked to think then they would want to show the world that they could have done a better job against Inter perhaps look at Inter's form Jesus Christ just win win win win win like

that's fucking mad but yeah it's gonna be it's gonna be a very good game between the two I think

it'll be nothing short of competitive. Yes yes I would actually be be surprised if Napoli just opened their legs I was I was kidding yeah a big game like this against a team that's in the Champions League final again you'd want to win it now you'd want to show the world like listen it was a fluke that we got eliminated yeah exactly we should have been there exactly we beat the potential Champions League winners yeah yeah that's it yeah that's it Inter currently sit in third

with 66 points that is now four points ahead of Milan while their opponents in Sao Suolo sit in

13th with 44 points. The next game we're going to be covering is Spezia 2 Milan 0 skip um the previous encounter was a 2-1 victory for Spezia so coming into this game Spezia hadn't won any of their last eight league games and had failed to score in 10 of their 19 matches played in 2023 um on the other hand Milan had recently beaten Lazio so there was a bit of a high going on there so Milan fans would have been hopeful that this game could have been a step in the right direction

for Champions League qualification and the Rossoneri were torn between preparing for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final having lost 2-0 to Inter on Wednesday and focusing on a top four finish all at the same time. Options were limited anyway as Chau was suspended with Raphael

Leao, Ben Nasser, Khrunich, Messias, Florenzi and Zlatan all out due to injury. The hosts were increasingly desperate after sliding into the bottom three for the first time this season plus Daniel Maldini, João Mutinho and Salah and Homme were injured and a banned Kevin Agudelo was unavailable. The good news however was and the all important news for Spezia was that their striker

Mbala Anzola was fully fit to start this game. On the other hand Milan lined up in their 4-2-3-1 formation with Mike Manon in goal and the back line of Kalulu, Kier, Tomori and Theo to the double pivot of Pobega and Tonali with Salah Makars out on the right, Origi out on the left and Brahim Dias playing behind the striker Ante Rebic. So in the 10th minute Sanja Tonali dumped the base of the near upright again from the edge of the area just days after doing the same thing against Inter in

the first leg. They're literally incredibly identical guys. In the 20th minute Drangowski flew to finger Tepatio Hernandez's screamer over the bar. In the 55th minute Brahim Dias was sent down the right by Tonali's slide rule pass but his finish clipped the outside of the post. Shortly after Mike Manon needed a sensational reaction save on Ekdal at the near post after a dummy

towards the far post tried to trick him. He tried to fucking trick Mike. In the 74th minute Spezia found the breakthrough on a corner as first Amian's free header came off the frame of the goal when Wisniewski was quickest to react on the rebound for his first ever Serie A goal making it

1-0 to Spezia and that's what happens when you struggle to kill the game. In the 84th minute Milan went 2-0 down to a wonderful Salvatore's posit of free kick that floated over the wall and dipped into the near top corner from just outside the penalty area. Much like Wisniewski this was his first ever Serie A goal. And one of the contenders for goal of the week because we forgot to mention that there was his goal, there was Vlasic's goal that was quite

good. Yes, there were many good goals. This in particular when you have a free kick just outside the penalty area it's almost better to have it from 30 yards out than to have it from there because the dip you need to get on that ball is ridiculous and to beat Mike Manon from that distance. These Esposito brothers are quite good at football. The other one's playing for Spal at the moment. The younger one I believe. Massive, massive obviously disappointing loss for Milan.

What does it come down to? How do Milan lose a game like this is the question. It comes down to first of all the players haven't had many minutes together right when it comes to the rotation towards the beginning of the season. The first half of the season there wasn't much rotation happening for Milan at all. You'd bring on these players that are starting towards the end of the season now. Piolli would bring them on at the end of the games in the first half. Now these guys are

starting. You have Rebic up front, you have Origi out on the wing, you have Pobega in the middle. Kalulu has a right back right now who's lost his form a bit. It's not looking great for these guys. At the end of the day 60% ball possession, expected goals were very similar. Spezia actually had a bit more like 1.9 while Milan was like 1.3 or something. So in reality it was closer than the scoreline suggests of course but the fact that Milan couldn't kill the game is just so sad for them.

No I agree with you 100%. I think as well the fact that it just made Milan struggle so much that they were constantly caught into two minds on what to focus on because they were fighting relentlessly in two separate competitions. It's like which one do we prioritize? Is it the Champions League that is a dream that you can't ignore especially when you're against a local rival like Inter which not only makes it more fierce but Milan have beaten Inter this season.

Okay they lost to them four times but Milan beat them this season so it was possible to do that. So allocating resources between these two competitions and with such a tight squad and in order for each decision to be effective is no easy task and I really empathize with Piolli over here but then you see other managers who get it down to a T and then celebrate playing a team like Spezia before they play in the Champions League semi-final. Yes and the likes

of Cremona for example. Exactly but it's always like this brothers okay let me calm down. Even when Milan won the league back in the day. Even when Milan won the league. The games they lost were against Minos. Yeah when Milan got Champions League when they beat Atalanta in the final match they were two kesi penalties and before that they beat you Vettrinal with that Omori header and that Brahim goal all of that. Even the Sassuolo one with the four nil at the end of the season.

But that's last season. Yeah last season Salernitana held Milan in a very delicate moment of the season. Yes and then in the season that I'm saying where they beat Atalanta and Juve they drew to Kaljari nil-nil who were on the brink of relegation. They drew to someone else I forgot who it was. So yeah Milan don't make it easy for themselves and in fact after this game the Curva hailed the entire squad over. The entire squad including Piole went up to the Curva and the Curva gave them

an earful basically. Now it was probably more of a motivational chat rather than an earful. I doubt they were criticizing them but more giving them words of affirmation and kind of hyping them up. And I don't know how to feel about that. Like looking at it as a Milan supporter I find it wholesome but at the same time like can it get lower? Look I don't think it's a low point to talk

to your fans. I don't think having the squad stand in front of the the Curva the fans and having them share their opinions or their views is a bad thing because at the end of the day the club belongs to the fans. That's a beautiful thing. The manager, the management and the players are there temporarily. The only consistent in a football club is the fans. That's it. You look at me and you bro we've made Milan fans for longer than Maldini's been the technical director. We've been fans for

longer than fucking Rafael Leao has played for the team. We've been there for longer than any of these guys have. It's just the way it is. So it is good to see Milan give the fans the respect they need especially when you look at my fire triangle that I explained before but the fans are a big part of it. The fans are a massive part of Milan's success because and I would even say, that goes for a saying that Milan's seven Champions League titles are because of the San Siro. The San Siro stadium

is a theater man. The fans are amazing. They're amazing. Look at pundits. Michael Richards was there on CBS and he couldn't even speak. He was gobsmacked by the atmosphere. He was just like look around. I don't even have anything to say. Look around and he's right. He's right. It is an amphitheater bro. It's beautiful. Yeah no I've agreed on that front. Obviously look at these

two teams Milan and Spezia and you see two very different battles. So there's Milan taking a slip up in the race to top four where they currently find themselves four points behind Lazio who are in fourth place and five points behind Inter who are in third place. So Milan need to stay consistent and hope for other teams to slip up. On the other hand Spezia finally, well finally, they were down in 18th last week and now they climb up to 17th after Verona dropped points in this match. So two

very very separate battles. Three games to go. I'm going to ask you for a bit of a prediction on how these two teams do including Milan bro. So let's take a look at Milan, Inter and Lazio's next three games. So Milan have to play Sampdoria at home, Juventus away and Verona at home. Inter need to play Napoli away, Atalanta away and Torino at home while Lazio need to play Udinese away, Cremona away and Empoli at home. Now the toughest run in my opinion is that of Inter.

For sure, no debate. They have a Champions League final to prepare for as well. The thing is their spirits are high. Napoli have already won the league of course as we discussed. So that leaves Atalanta away and Torino at home and Torino don't really have much to play for. Atalanta will be pushing for that Europa League spot but to be honest it's pretty much confirmed. So it's not as hard as it could be. On the other hand Milan and Lazio have a few challenges coming up that are

quite massive. Milan have Sampdoria at home who are playing without any pressure because they've already been relegated and that's probably the atmosphere they need to actually get completely to get a result they need. Juventus away for Milan is a game that they've found success in recently but it could easily be a draw or a loss and then Verona at home who are also fighting safety. That's a tough tough tough game especially if they're relegated by them which I

highly doubt they would be. Lazio have Udinese away from home. Cremoneza away from home as well and Lampoli at home. Technically they should win all of them. Cremoneza is the toughest one of course while Lampoli and Udinese are pretty much safe. So that leaves that but you can't really say what's going to happen. No bro, I don't know. If I had to guess I think that Milan would miss out on top four. I think Inter will continue to win. I think that Lazio won't they need to drop four

points and Milan need to win everything. I don't think Lazio drop four points over here again so Udinese, Cremoneza and Lampoli I'd be very surprised if they win. They have been dropping

points and they drop points to Lettria this matchday but yeah I share your opinion. I don't think Milan will be getting top four when you look at like Milan have favorable inverted commas fixtures but the fact that they're four points behind they need to win everything and hope that Inter slip up who have been top notch and that Lazio slip up when their fixtures are rather

favorable and I don't see it happening. The thing is though if Milan beat Sampdoria and Lazio lose to Udinese for example or Inter lose to Napoli then it's all to play for and the pressure mounts and if the pressure amounts then Milan are at an advantage to that. Yeah things can change. In the bottom part of the table you have Lettria, Spezia, Verona and Cremoneza who will go down. Cremoneza of course it's looking unlikely that they'll stay up. They have Bologna at home,

Lazio away and Salernet at home three very difficult games. Yeah Verona have Atalanta, Empoli and Milan also three very difficult games. Spezia have Lettria away that's happening this weekend a 12 30 game I believe it's on a Sunday that's going to be a massive game. Yeah it's going to be a nice one. It's going to be a good one I suggest everyone tunes in it's going to be a sold out stadium it's going to be a massive game. Torino away and then Roma away while Lettria

have Spezia at home Monza away and Bologna at home. I don't think Lettria will get relegated. Now it's between Spezia and Verona for me. Spezia, Lettria, Verona, Atalanta, Empoli, Milan. It's so tight bro. I think Verona will go down. Yeah I think I'm not going to say who I think go down but I think Spezia survive. I think they survive. Okay fair enough so

shall we move on to my game? Yes I'll just let you guys know where these teams are in the table even though I've already kind of said Milan are in fifth on 61 points for behind Lettria while Spezia are in 17th on 30 points level on points with 18th placed Verona and just two points behind Lettria. Okay so the next game we're going to be covering is Lettria 2, Lettria 2 speaking of Lettria. Coming into this Lettria had lost the previous two Serie A matches against Lettria so Lettria are

actually a dark horse for Lazio. Lazio have failed to score in only one game out of 16 Serie A matches played at the Olympico Stadium against Lettria. Lazio have suffered three defeats on the drawn, their last five league matches so their form has dipped if this trajectory continues and they will slip out of top four. Coming into this Lettria had lost their five lost away games in the league.

Now for the lineups Lazio lined up with their usual 4-3-3 formation courtesy of Maurizio Sarri with Provider, Lingol, Hisaio as the left back and Lazari as the right back with Roman Iuoli and Ciasale as the center back duo. Luis Alberto, Marcus Antonio and Milinkovic-Savage were the midfield trio with Zaccani, Immobile and Philippa Anderson up front. For Lettria it was also a 4-3-3 their usual formation Marco Barone, Barone sorry my god, Falcone was in goal, Gendre was right back,

Gallo was left back, Umtiti and Basquerotto were the center back duo. These guys always play the same 11. Udin, Heuilmann and Blin were in the middle with Streffetza on the right, Banda on the left and Colombo up front. Now in the 22nd minute Hisaio gave away a penalty Streffetza stepped up to take the penalty and went left and wide. Provider actually tracked the shot but Streffetza failed to hit the target. In the 34th minute there was a goal, Ciro Immobile timed his run perfectly

on a Luis Alberto through ball and scored from close range to give Lazio a 1-0 lead. You were actually going to say Ciro Immobile. Immobile yes that's it. In the 47th minute in the first half Lecce actually managed an equalizer just before halftime as Udin who had a fantastic game found the bottom corner from outside the box. Udin started the second half just as he ended the first as he scored his second goal of the game following Streffetza's dangerous run into the penalty area

and he shot again low and hard. Very well played shot great play over there by Lecce. In the second half Lazio pushed forward and created several crosses in the Lecce box but the visitors defended very well courtesy of Basquirotta and Umtiti but in the 94th minute there was a little bit of rain on Lecce's period as Milenković Savvić said they deflected off Umtiti and found the net

equalizing for Lazio in the 94th minute. You wouldn't have thought that they'd have celebrated that so hard but at the end of the day it's another one point is at this point is massive for top four. No crucial crucial yes it's the difference between Milan losing to Spezia and Milan drawing to Spezia entirely different conversation had that been the case. Yes Lecce and Lazio actually both maintained

their positions in the table. Lecce are in 16th place and Lazio are in third. Lazio will face Udinese in the next match while Lecce will prepare for a crucial relegation battle against Spezia as discussed. Now bro Lazio when the going gets tough Lazio get going and nothing that way but

as they get going they leave. Yeah as they leave the room. Yeah yes and it's a lot of pressure is on them now especially because they've carried themselves in a certain way when it looked like top four was a guarantee because they were in second place and there was quite a gap between them and Juventus and well before the the docked points got given back to them there was quite a significant gap obviously between Juve there's quite a good gap between Inter and Milan as well

and Roma. Now they're not in a bit of a pickle but now they need to fight and now they need to they need to win the last three games if they want to make sure that they get Champions League and I don't know whenever I've seen Lazio on a stage like this it doesn't seem to end too well barring that Coppa Italia victory a few years back but I don't know as a Milan fan I obviously think that well considering how Milan are right now that Lazio's chances are much better considering

the fixtures and considering that they've got four points ahead of Milan but yeah it's going to be

interesting to see if they rise to the occasion or not in these next few games. Yeah definitely bro, Leicester have proven to be a tough opponent for many big teams this season the star of this game Remy Houdon is a former Bordeaux player who actually was pretty good in France I mean he used to score like four goals a season get five assists that type of player season a good signing for them a very smart signing for Leicester they brought him in this season he scored two goals both coming

in this match with nine appearances as a starter yeah he's been super and yes he actually managed to make the difference over here we get to see a few players now who haven't really done much in the league for example Empoli Piccoli yeah Piccoli scored the winner in the 94th what a time to get your first goal for the club yeah this is why you were signed like to come out and save your team in situations like this yeah absolutely no Houdon looked really good he looked

really smooth with his movements as well very calm both of his goals were taken really well and I think Lecce needed a bit of that in their game I think they were getting a bit a little bit figured out especially when you have a when you know they're their standout players who really are Streffetza, Di Francesco and then whether it's Cissé or Colombo starting those are their standout players barring obviously the Basquerotas the Umtiti's the Jean-Pierre's the Galdos and all

that yeah but when it comes to the the offensive they seem pretty figured out come in Houdon and he gives them something totally different and he manages to get them two goals in the way that he did yes bro totally nice to see you Mbappéle and Sergue back at it at Lazio but it was not enough to get them the three points all is up in the air right now Lazio currently sit in fourth with 65 points Milan lurking in that fifth spot with 61 points no room for error at this point

Inter above them with 66 Roma beneath Milan with 59. Lecce currently sit in 16th with 32 points two points above the relegation pool man this is getting tense yeah Lecce are the closest to relegation they've been all season and so yeah let's not throw them away in the discussion of relegation definitely not no they're very much alive in the terms of dying yeah exactly they're contenders some might say the next game we're going to be covering was probably my favorite

game of this matchday taking everything into account it was Salernitana won Atalanta nil the previous encounter was an 8-2 victory for Atalanta which had gotten Nicola sacked but then they had rehired him and then he got sacked again Joachim Mejle was banned for this game plus Lukman, Bogar, Ruggeri, Palamino and Hattaber were injured so quite an injury ridden side over here and Salernitana had not won any of their 14 matches played against Atalanta and Serie A, Serie B

and the Coppa Italia so massive massive victory against all odds over here for Salernitana they lined up with a 3-4-2-1 formation with Ochoa on goal and the back line of Pirola, Lovato and Danilulic they had Braderic out on the right and Mazzocchi sorry Braderic out on the left and Mazzocchi out on the right with Villene and Colibale in a double pivot they had D out on the left Bottheim out on the right and Piontek up front for Atalanta it was also a 3-4-2-1

formation with Sportiello on goal and the back line of Toloi, Gymsity and Scalvini Sopi on the right, Zappa Costa on the left on the double pivot of De Hoon and Ederson that Coppa Minas out on the right, Pasalicci out on the left and Duvan Zapata ahead of them so in the 26th minute former Atalanta midfielder Ederson unleashed a powerful long-range shot for Atalanta forcing Ochoa to make a diving save in the 41st minute Zapata headed wide following a

Martin De Hoon cross where he really should have done better. Just after half time play became rather tricky in the second half as a full-blown thunderstorm erupted and then Atalanta lost Brandon Sopi due to a suspected hamstring strain within two minutes of the restart. Bulai Dija squandered a good chance for Salernitana in the 55th minute as he blasted the ball over the bar after being sent clear by Danilulic and two minutes later in 57th Piontek missed an opportunity for Salernitana

with a diving header from a rebounded Botheim cross. In the 70th minute Gyms City left the field with

a bruised foot and Atalanta were down to 10 men temporarily. In the 80th minute Salernitana applied pressure on Atalanta as the game progressed taking advantage of the waterlogged pitch, they did look much better in those wet conditions than Atalanta did, they adapted much better, and then in the 93rd minute after all the pressure they were piling towards the end Antonio Candrieva, a substitute for Salernitana, played a 1-2 with Piontek and smashed a right

footed shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner, earning his side a vital three points. These guys grind when they're going at stuff, you know, they get going and that's not in leaving the room. They won, they managed to fucking win it at the end and I didn't think they would. Candrieva, what a hero man. Yeah, a massive hero and then he's really earning his title as a club legend the more the season progresses. I know he's a new signing for them but man has he been

pivotal for them this season. Yeah, I think that pretty much sums up the game that Salernitana just simply grew into it more as the conditions worsened. Now whether it was the fact that they were home and they had the supporters behind them. Oh yeah, the supporters are amazing. Yeah, and also apart from that, their gaps where you could afford to be a bit more careless in the rain because mistakes are going to happen and mistakes were happening on both ends and then towards the end of the game

Salernitana were the ones that managed to get that goal. To be honest it could have gone either way but I think Salernitana just prevailed that little bit harder than Atalanta. Yes, even statistically they had a slight edge of Salernitana, they had slightly more possession, 52%

and they had one more shot on target. Now I know at the end of the day that might not be enough, like you look at the stats of Spezia Milan, you would have thought that would be a 2-0 victory for Spezia but this was one of those cases where it was just enough to edge Salernitana a victory. Absolutely man, Salernitana aren't technically mathematically clear of relegation, however it is

of my opinion that there's no way in hell that Salernitana gets relegated this season. Atalanta on the other hand the only real thing that they're playing for is Europa League which they can't technically get when you see that they're on 58 points and that Roma and Milan are on 59 and 61 respectively. It could very much be the case that Atalanta get Europa League and Milan or Roma slip down to Conference League, that's also a possibility. It could also be the case that Juve are docked

points and everyone's happy. Yeah apart from Juve, that could also be a very bad medication, everyone's safe. Yeah the next game we're going to be covering is actually... Hold on, hold on sorry, Atalanta are in seventh on 58 points, Salernitana are 15th on 38, sorry. That's all right, the transition was perfect, we're going to talk about Juve. The next game we're going to be covering is Juventus 2-0,

Cremona is nil, thank you for ruining my segue. Juventus rotated their squad ahead of their Europa League semi-final decider with Sevilla. Paul Pogba suffered another injury and had to be substituted, that overshadowed the victory. I'm sorry bro, I'm not very good at drinking and talking. What did you say? A mogul had an injury. I'm sorry. Alright no problem. Stelartois, Belgium's finest. 1366. Not per bottle guys. No yeah that's a date of apparently that Stelartois was discovered.

No way. 1366. Brothers be getting fucked up in the 1300s like. Brothers, they're like you know white makeup and their wigs and they're like fucking yeah whatever. Cremona needed a win to close the gap on Spezia and Verona. Charles Piquel was suspended for Cremona while Cyrille Dessers and Saju were injured. Juventus unveiled their new kit for the 2023-24 season. Bro thoughts? It's like a kid drew highlighter on it man, on the sides. I hate

that highlighter gold, that highlighter yellow. Fantastic inside grandpa. I don't like it. I like the classic black and white. They haven't had a black and white normal striped kit in a fucking while and they should bring that back. They do need to bring it back. This modern fucking bullshit that they're doing. Stop doing modern bullshit man. It's through minimal kits are way nicer, the vintage kits are nice but at the end of the day man it doesn't look terrible.

It looks worse on the model than it does on the player. Did you see Vlachovic's reaction to it? He was like looking at it like a bit like what the fuck then he saw the camera he's like wow. Very nice. Juventus have never lost to Cremona in Serie A. They won 12 out of their 16 encounters. Juve have a perfect record of course at home at Cremona winning all eight of their previous encounters with a goal difference of 23 to 3. Juventus have won 11 of their 14 home league

matches since October. The most by any team in Serie A during that period. Cremona is on the other hand have drawn the most away matches in Serie A this season along with Salernitana with a total of eight draws. So for Juventus it was their weird 3-5-1-1 formation with Perri and N'Gol, Danilo, Bremer and Gatti at the back with Chiesa out wide and Quadrado on the other side,

Rabio, Paredes and Fagioli in the middle with Pogba starting behind Vlauvić. For Cremona it was Karnesecchi in goal with Ferrari as the right back, Qualiata as the left back and a 5-4-1. The three centre backs were Vasquez, Lacosvili and Kirikes. Sorry man I can't pronounce your name. Please, Lacosvili, how do you say it? I say Lacosvili and I know it's wrong. The commentators always say it differently as well. Where's he from? I think he's Romanian,

if I'm not mistaken. I might be fabricating lies. He's Georgian. We should ask Faratskelia how to pronounce it. That's a good idea. Thanks. Afenarjan, Galdamez, Mete and Benassi were playing behind Ocherieche who was the sole striker in a formation that looked to be set up to counter attack Juventus. Jokes on them, Juve were also set up to counter attack Cremona. Cremona's formation looks like me doing my fucking FM with Empoli every time I come against a top 17. 5 at the back

like 5-4-1. Nice. Paul Pogba in the 21st minute suffered an injury, he was replaced by Arcadius Millec, he walked off in tears. It was very sad, he was covering his face at the point his top came down. You could see his eyes, they were puffy and watery and he was followed into the tunnel by De Maria who was consoling him. Very sad for him, you know, you have to feel for him. He spent the whole season trying to recover after trying to get that shortcut to the World Cup by avoiding surgery.

That's really bitten him in the ass and he's missed an entire year of football and he's on a four-year contract and he's making 10 million a year net. Yeah, yeah. So sad. Nightmare for him, man. Making 10 million a season and not playing. He's constantly dreaming. He's a very ambitious player like it sucks for him, of course. In the 55th minute, Nicolo Falcioli scored a rocket of a right footed shot from the edge of the box. He was assisted by Federico Chiesa. Now this was a goal

against the team that he helped earn promotion last year in Cremonezzo. He was out on loan with them. He had a very good season in Serie A. This was also his boyhood club. That's why he didn't actually celebrate this goal, Fagioli. It was a very personal goal for him and you know, it's written in the stars, bro. It ruled all of their legs. Petania scores against his ex-team, Fagioli scores against his ex-team, everyone scores against their ex-team. In the 74th minute, Millek found

the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside. In the 79th minute, Gleason Bremer scored from a blank range shot after a deflection of a Cremonezzo player following an Angel Di Maria corner. Don't mock me, his name is Gleason, not Gielsen. Why would I mock you if Gleason is the name of my future child, brother? I love it. Gleason Fennec. In the 84th minute, Kirikas cleared Rabiot's shot off the line. This was a pretty standard Juve victory against Cremonezzo.

They've been good against these teams recently and 2-0 is a strong result against the team who's facing relegation and these guys would have been fighting for their life, you know. Yeah, I think it was over after the first goal. I think it took Juve a while, like they weren't too active in the first half, but then you see in the second half, they got a goal. Within 10

minutes through Nicolò Fagioli against his former team. I think once that went in, Cremonezzo were not set up to do anything else rather than try to get a 0-0 in this game, a 5-4-1 formation. Between Ocher Reke and the rest of the team, a massive gap. You had to do a lot of work to track back and try to pull the ball forward and to no avail because Juve are a tight-knit team.

Very. So yeah, I think after the first goal, Cremonezzo crumbled. Yes, their idea was to bring on Cioffani instead of Felix Afanagian at the start of the second half and they also brought on Valeri. Now probably the idea over there was for Valeri to cross the ball to Cioffani and to try to get something out of their veteran striker over there. Sir Nicolò was also brought on along with Bonaiuto Castagnetti. These guys really did try their best to penetrate this Juve defense, but

it's very difficult man. Juve are very tight as you said, they're a tight-knit team. In fact, Cremonezzo only managed one shot on target this game. Yeah, there you go, there you go and I'm not surprised simply by looking at the way these teams were set up. I think Cremonezzo were set up for

failure over here unless they would have gotten a 0-0 and yeah. I mean at the end of the day they probably came into this game thinking let's try to hold them for as long as we can and maybe get one point or get like a last-minute winner against them or something like a goal at the death and we'll try to hold it but that of course was not the case. Juve flying in second place with 69 points for now while Cremonezzo are 19th with 24 points, six points, well seven points off of safety.

The next game we're going to be covering is Bologna 0-0 Roma 0. The previous encounter was a 1-0 victory for Roma. Bologna have the most victories against Roma in Serie A with 51 wins in 149 matches. However, Bologna have only gotten the better of Roma once in their last five encounters. Roma were arresting Paolo Deballa and Rui Patricio plus Smalling, Kumbulla, Lorente, Karsdorp and Delciarraui were out injured. So Zvilar got his Serie A debut and Filippo

Missori his first start. The hosts missed Soriano, Sansone, Sao Mauro, Kyriakopoulos and a suspended Stefan Posch while Lukumi was in Colombia for the birth of his child. Congratulations Lukumi fuckumi. For Bologna it was a 4-2-3-1 formation with Skorupski in goal and Abaklano Kampiaso, Sosa, Bonifazi and Silvestri coming as Anshouten played in the middle with Barrow on the left or Salini on the right and Ferguson playing behind Arnautovic. For Roma it was a 3-5-2 formation with Zvilar in

goal and Abaklano, Czellik, Cristante and De Banias. Missori on the right, Zalevski on the left with Wijnaldum, Tahirovic and Kamara in the middle, Bellotti and Solbakken up front. Now that is a sad sight to look at. So many youngsters this is so Mourinho. You look at Missori, Kamara, Tahirovic, Zalevski, Solbakken like who are these guys? But at the end of the day these guys are

resting players for the Europa League semi-final clash no? Yes but they're also riddled with injuries like De Baal and Patricia are being rested and small in Kumbula, Laurent, Tecarsdorp and El Shara we are all injured. So it's not an ideal situation for them at all. Solbakken had early penalty appeals for a Joaquin Sosa block using a high arm, referee said nothing doing.

Skorupski made a sensational reaction save on Andrea Bellotti after Solbakken squared to the Italian who would have had his first Serie A goal for Roma, that was in the 23rd minute. Towards the end of the first half Zvilar was tested and Zalevski's free kick skimmed the far top corner. In the 56th minute Boves only skimmed his head to a Zalevski cross in the 6 yard box, bit more contact and it could have been a goal. In the 77th Tami Abraham just failed to latch on

to an inspired Lorenzo Pellegrini's ball over the top. In the 80th a free kick to the back post found Gianluca Mancini who turned wide from a point blank range into a crowd of players and then in the 85th minute Xerguez volleyed onto the side netting from Cambiaso's cross at the far post.

So I mean opportunities were there for both teams however with both teams riddled with injuries and both teams having so much respect for each other because they are both two powerhouses in the league this year, it's fair enough that they both managed to get away with one point and didn't risk it all to try and get three against all odds. And in reality Roma will be the happier of the lot with the result when you look at the statistics and how the actual game went down.

Bologna had 72% ball possession, they dominated the game, they looked like the bigger team over here, they also had way more shots than they did. They had 12 shots Bologna to Roma, seven, three shots on target to Roma's two shots on target. So at the end of the day the spoils were shared

and Roma will probably be happier than Bologna here. Yeah I think so and also Roma, they have a tight fixture list at the minute so I think at this point as much as they would be dying for top four and it is in my opinion a failure of a season if Roma don't get top four especially after the well the investments they made, the players that they brought in, the coach they brought in, they won the conference league last year, now maybe this year they'll do something in the Europa

league and they're in a position to do something over there but again the fact that they didn't manage to get top four I think that was their main goal for this season and them not getting it might make it a bit of a failure of a season. Yes and there are rumors of PSG looking at Mourinho, many say that Mourinho is still hoping for another stint at Real Madrid, we'll see if he does stay along. He said from the start that this was going to be a long-term project at Roma, yeah we'll see

what happens. Yeah Mourinho just wants to settle down at this point, man he's had three seasons here and there for quite a while now you look at United, you look at Spurs, you look at these last, well he's

had three years spent his entire career to be entirely fair. Most managers have. Yeah, yeah, Mourinho however has become notorious for a bit of a slater of managers in the game, a bit of a journeyman, but this essentially puts Roma in sixth on 59 points, just two behind Milan and six behind Lazio, there is technically still a lot to play for over there and Bologna in 11th on 47, just one point behind Torino, sorry two points behind Torino, Monza and Fiorentina.

The next game we're going to be covering is Fiorentina to Udinese nil. Udinese have won three of their last four Serie A matches against Fiorentina. Fiorentina actually lost their most recent match against Udinese at the Franci Stadium. Udinese haven't scored in three of their last six matches against Fiorentina. Fiorentina have won their last three home matches in Serie A while Udinese have lost their last two away games in Serie A, so this was always going to be a juicy

encounter. For Fiorentina it was their 4-2-3-1 formation with Cerafolini in goal, Biragi as the left back, Venuti as the right back, with Igor and Milenkovic as a centre back duo. Duncan and Castrovilli formed the midfield double pivot with Brecola as the left winger, Icon as the right

winger and Barak playing behind Kwame. For Udinese it was a 3-5-1-1 formation with Silvestri in goal, Rodrigo, Bacau, Bijole and Perez at the back, Bossele as the right winger, Ziegler as the left winger, Lovric, Wallace and Pereira were in the middle with Samardzic playing off the shoulders of Nesterovski. Now in the sixth minute Duncan smacked the post from a long way out, this led to Gaetano Castrovilli scoring from six yards after an accidental assist from a knockdown

by Rodrigo Bacau. The scoring was opened nice and early on. Antonin Barak found the net shortly after but the goal was disallowed for Icona being in a tight offside position and in the 34th minute Josip Brecola hit the post of an open goal after drawing out the goalkeeper on a counter-attack,

so close to getting his first goal for Fiorentina. In the 78th minute Dinezes Vivaldo Semedo rattled the woodwork with a looping header just a minute after coming on as a substitute and then the 90th minute Giacomo Bonaventura rolled back the ears as he cut inside the defender and fired into the near bottom corner from 15 yards to secure the victory for Fiorentina. In the 96th minute as well actually there was one more moment of rear tension erupted after the final whistle.

There was a fight between Rodrigo Bacau and Giacomo Bonaventura and Bacau was fined 10,000 euros for this and Bonaventura 5,000 euros allegedly. Yeah and they both obviously got sent off after the final whistle so they'll be missing the missing their next game as well but what a goal that was by Bonaventura another contender. Another contender it's true. Yeah but how much better are Fiorentina

than Odinese? It's crazy that they're both fighting for the same position essentially. It's true and in reality it's not like Fiorentina had more to play for than Odinese they're pretty much in the exact same situation but Fiorentina are much better they have a very good team and as so Cocholi said at the end of the game Fiorentina with me will never have any financial problems. Kind of the kind of thing you wish you could tell your girl no? With me you're all right you know.

A little bit man. Who's to say I don't say it already. Hey hey. With me you're all right. My god I got chills. No Fiorentina are up an eighth with 49 points while Odinese are in 12th with 46 points. The next game we're going to be covering is Verona nil Torino 1. Was that was that your last game no it was your one before the last right? This was my penultimate game. Okay so the next game we're going to be covering is Verona nil Torino 1. The previous encounter was a 1-1 draw between

both sides. The pressure was back on Hellas after Spezia beat Milan pushing them back into the bottom three. Hrustich, Onri and Lazania were on the treatment table while Toro missed Mirancuk and Nemanja Rodonjic on Ivan Juric's return to the Bente Gaudi. Schürs was only fit for the bench as well. Hellas Verona have drawn more matches against Torino than any other side in Serie A. So Verona lined up in their 3-4-1 formation with Monte Pogol on the back line of Davidovic,

Hien and Mannyani. Lazovic on the left, Veroni on the right and Abdelgaard and Tameze in the middle. Vardy and Ngonj played behind Juric. For Torino it was also a 3-4-1 formation with Vania and Gaudi on the back line of Gigi Bonjor and Andrade Rodriguez. Cinco out on the right, Voivode out on the left and Ricci and Illic in the double pivot with Vlasic and Caramo playing behind San Abreu. A lot of itches trying to get me bro. Trying to get that lisp out. So in the 25th minute

Mannyani was forced off the field due to an injury and in the 30th minute goal. Torino took the lead as Nicola Vlasic unleashed a powerful left footed shot into the top corner from just outside the penalty area. Fantastic goal, the only goal in the game and wow Vlasic is on his day. Vlasic is a top top top player. His first season in Serie A has been a very good one for 25 years old.

Literally man. In the 48th minute still in the first half San Abreu missed a huge chance, some might even call it a sitter to double Torino's lead sending the ball into the stands. In the 56th minute Verona missed a golden opportunity to equalise with Cinco making a crucial tackle on Ngonj and Darko Lazovic hitting the rebound into the side of the post.

In the 60th minute Andrade Duda was forced off the field with a suspected tie strain, he was only on the pitch for about 15 minutes after coming on shortly after the break. In the 75th minute Torino wasted three big chances to kill the game off with Ricci's finish flashing just wide and Cinco having one shot saved and another miss hit over the bar.

Verona would have hoped for more but Torino are such a tough side to play against for everyone in the league and they managed to get it done here by scoring early and having more opportunities to kill the game off and just not managing. I believe they were in full control of this game throughout. Verona will be particularly upset after seeing that Spezia manage a 2-0 victory over Milan. Yeah absolutely man they'll be shocked as well to see that. As were we bro.

Yeah yeah and as a result of that they do fall to 18th place on 30 points. Torino on the other hand exactly where they typically are 10th place on 49 points. The last game we're going to be covering was actually a surprising game in my opinion. In Sampdoria one, Empoli one. Granted Sampdoria nowadays are playing without pressure right so in reality when you don't have any pressure you can play more chill, you can play more composed,

you know you don't really worry about anything like you're gone already. That's why I'm worried about the Milan game against Sampdoria. Yeah yeah so am I and I don't think Empoli have much to play for as well after survival was confirmed for them I think yeah. But it hasn't been no they looked ecstatic when they got the last minute equalizer over here they look really happy. I don't think

mathematically they were safe or they are safe so mathematically. But anyway Sampdoria and Empoli haven't drawn any of their last five say matches with three wins for Sampdoria and two wins for Empoli. This actually changed now. Empoli struggle to score against Sampdoria finding the net in 56 of their 27 meetings only Juve have been shut out in a higher percentage of the matches in 63%. 17-27. Yeah I'll just get into the lineups to be honest. Sampdoria lined up the 3-4-1-2 with

Ravalje and goal. Amiouane and Nuiteng and Gunther at the back without Jello on the left Zanoli on the right. Winks and Rincon in the middle with Juric which has a three-quarter start. Collier up front with Gabiadini. Pretty much the same team as always. That disappointing team. These are the disappointments of the season these guys that we've just mentioned. Empoli had Vicario and

goal. Nice to see him back of course. Ebuyehi has the right back. Parisi has the left back. Luperto and Waloukovic as the centre back duo with Grassi and Marin as a double pivot with Baldanzi out on the right this time with Kambiaghi out on the left. Henderson as a treco artista and Caputo up front. I've just confirmed that this one point that they got put them onto nine points clear of Verona and Spezia and there are three games left to play. So they're safe unless they come draw

in 18th with a team who has a better head-to-head. Exactly. So I think they're safe though. Exactly. You should be fine. In the 13th minute Gabiadini had a massive miss. It was pretty much an open goal and he skied it. In the 34th minute Zanoli scored for some day. I think with them the one lead Fabio Collier along made the determined run on the left wing and delivered a well-placed cross into the crowded Empoli penalty area. Zanoli positioned himself perfectly and struck the ball

past the goalkeeper Vicario finding the back of the net. In the 93rd minute Piccoli got his first goal for Empoli in the 93rd minute. This was his first goal in almost two years as the match approached its final moments. Empoli intensified the efforts to find the goal. In the dying minutes, a bouncing ball inside the Sampdoria penalty area fell to Piccoli who reacted quickly and poked the ball past the Sampdoria goalkeeper to level the score. Now my only talking point from this game

bro, Kambiagi is so good. He's really come to life in the last part of the season. It's so nice to see that this Zanetti team is gelling and everyone seems to know what to do. Their touches have been fucking super bro like the one touch movement like you know in the middle. There's always something missing with Empoli and there probably will always be something missing because big teams will eat

away at their resources at their strongest points as we've discussed before. But you look at Baldanzi and Kaputo and Kambiagi they have a really nice understanding not to mention Marjane and Grassi have actually been very good in support behind them and a reliable dependable defense and a great goalkeeper that is Empoli for you and they are safe. We'll see them again next year. Sampdoria we won't be seeing. No and then we'll be seeing their city rivals Genoa up back. So

very very bitter to be a if you are a Sampdoria fan. Like you said Sampdoria look quite good when they're not playing with pressure. It is also that classic too little too late. So I think we have tried our best to kind of get on that Sampdoria train after they brought on Dejan Stankovic saying they're looking better here, they're looking better here, they're looking better here. But the fact of the matter is and this goes to show their problem is getting three points.

Their problem has always been this season getting three points. They were leading the game for so long and then the 93rd minute slipping up and conceding to a to a piccoli goal. Very disappointing once again for Sampdoria. We can say they looked better because they were more in the game but yeah very disappointing for them not to get away with the victory over half their leading for so long. But honestly good riddance. Poor project you should get punished for it. Lack of investment

you should get punished for it. Yeah poor decisions, a fucking bastard as their owner as well. And Genoa coming up are the complete opposite right now. New owners, fresh faced you know. Good project, young manager, decent pieces in their team you know Massimo Coda, Ramo guys who've done it before, Bonnie as a center back. It's all good for them. So yeah Dr. Jaffla and Mr. Hyde over there. Exactly, exactly. Nian and Yang.

Where are they in the table brother? So Sampdoria are dead last with 18 points while Empoli are up in 14th with 39 points. I personally am just looking forward to next season at this point so obviously. No the ending is going to be massive. Edge of the seat stuff, edge of the seat stuff for this season. But like you said teams like Sampdoria have had this really

dead weight about them this season. Cremonesa for the most part as well. And then on the other hand as a Milan fan seeing that slip up from January onwards after the World Cup I just, I'm really, really, really looking forward to next season at this point. Both from a good riddance to this season from a Milan fan perspective and then because there's so much to look forward to next

season as well man. Yeah totally. What I personally can't stand is that period of time where there's no football on and we were just listening to transfer rumors and everyone's opinions and you know I hate that personally. What I am excited for right now is Sunday 12 30 lecture specia. Honestly if you're going to watch one game this weekend make sure it's that one. Yes. Oh that's gonna be massive. It's gonna be so good. That's gonna be incredible.

And if you're anywhere in the area you should get tickets. Yeah why not. 100%. Before we conclude we have a question from our boy Dennis with a legend, absolute legend. Yeah I love talking to you Dennis. We love talking to Dennis. He's got a question he asked outside the Serie A so from the top five leagues. Do you guys have a favorite team in each league that you have a soft spot for? I would say so. I think so. So let's go through the top five leagues. Obviously

Italy is Milan for both of us. Yes. Ursal and Etan for me the soft spot at the moment. The soft spot in Italy for me would be Empoli I think. Germany. Germany Dortmund. Same Dortmund is a fandom. Yeah 100%. Anything else in Germany anyone else you have a soft spot for? No not really. France. In France I like what that young gentleman is doing man. He used to he manages a team in France and his only previous experience was playing football manager.

Rems I believe he's managing. So I have a massive soft spot for them. Let me just get all of my facts straight before I will still is his name. He's the Rems manager and he's notorious he's famous for his only previous experience being playing football manager and he's absolutely nailing it now. So Rems at the moment would be my favorite team in France definitely.

Yeah for me in France it has to be Marseille. Marseille because of the fan base. Oh the fan base. I love a rough fan base and I love the fact that they're the underdogs you know they're rivals the PSG who are obviously the titans in the league so I love to watch and they have Dimitri Payet as well. Yeah yeah yeah. England. In England I really really love watching City. Their brand of football is amazing and Guardiola is just a genius and the way he always shakes

things up from season to season is admirable. As a club I really root for Liverpool however. Really? Yes. I like Nottingham Forest dude. Oh yeah no no I have to change my answer I'm sorry it's definitely not. Our dads are Nottingham Forest fan. Yeah that's the thing. And Arsenal as well I

like I like Arsenal. Yeah. I like Arsenal a lot. I like their especially what they're doing. Their style of football the whole Wenger philosophy and all that and even with their coach now Arteta they're doing very well. It's a shame that they couldn't run away with the league. City are just the the Premier League's in danger of becoming one of those one-sided leagues now with this whole city dominance they look

incredible. Yeah agreed. We're missing one league bro Spain. Real Madrid. Atletico Madrid. Love it. Fair enough. Love Simeone, love the balls dude, love the fucking grit that that team has love them. Yeah for me it's Real. I grew up as a Real Madrid fan initially before I saw the light. One thing that that made me fall out of love with Real is the way that they're operated as a football club. Florentino Pérez pushing for the Super League having tight

relationships with the King of Spain. They're the King's club and everything gets handed to them on a silver platter. Dubious calls constantly in the Champions League when they won three in a row. There was a particular game against Bayern Munich that was shambolic refereeing. So now you support Milan who have never had any political affiliation whatsoever right? Silvio. I also like Betis by the way.

Yeah I love I love Betis. I like the way they move the ball around. I love their footballing philosophy. But about Real I think you have to love them from a brand perspective the whole Galacticos thing that they they rule Europe even though they're losing three nil to City as we speak. But yeah I think I think we've given good answers over there. Yeah thank you. Dennis has he mentioned a team that have an incredible history in Spain. Osasuna. Osasuna are a cool team. Yeah they're a

hidden gem. He suggested reading up on them. So everyone read up on Osasuna and prove yourself. Exactly and we'll do the same. Thank you very much for listening guys. We have been your hosts Jake and Matt. I said it for you. Thank you. We've been Seiya Spotlight. Thank you very much. Remember to check out our Instagram. Keep an eye out on our Patreon if you want to support this podcast that we have going on. Let us know what you think about it. Reach out. DM us. We always reply.

We love you and goodbye. Goodbye guys. See you next week.