Defeat to Carlos Cuesta’s Parma leaves Rossoneri 10 points off top spot as England midfielder suffers broken jaw
T
hese were supposed to be the weeks when Milan held the upper hand over their Serie A rivals, granted six days to prepare for a home game against bottom-half opposition while the likes of Inter, Juventus and Atalanta dragged themselves back exhausted from European away trips. Demoralised, too, after losing to Bodø/Glimt, Galatasaray and Borussia Dortmund by a combined 10 goals to three.
It was a grim week for Italian football, the sort that provokes another round of sad think-pieces about whether the nation’s teams will ever again be competitive in the continent’s biggest tournament. A discourse which often seems to skim over the fact one of them has gone to the final twice in the past three seasons.
That Serie A has fallen behind Europe’s most successful leagues commercially, and that its best clubs are struggling to keep up as a result, has been evident now for many years. Returning to this point every time Italian teams have a bad week feels like a cop-out. All three Champions League representatives are capable of better than they delivered and deserve to be called out on the specifics.
