章 185: Chapter 185: Topping the Serie A Standings
Chapter 185: Topping the Serie A Standings
The Inter Milan players were stunned; they couldn't accept conceding this goal. The boos from the San Siro crowd were deafening. For Inter Milan, losing at home was unacceptable as it would extend their winless streak in the league to five games. Their last Serie A win was in Round 9 when they narrowly beat Sampdoria 1-0 at home in October.
With five matches without a win, Inter Milan's ranking had plummeted from 8th to 12th. This goal was a huge blow to them. Despite launching a fierce counterattack against Udinese's goal after the restart, their efforts were ineffective. The impatient Inter Milan players couldn't organize their attacks properly, and many ended in random, rushed shots that barely threatened Udinese and often looked more like they were clearing the ball for them.
On the other hand, Udinese displayed strong unity. Led by Kanté, their four midfielders formed a second defensive wall in front of the backline, leaving only Bruno and substitute Thereau upfront for counterattacks. Despite the limited attacking numbers, they still posed significant threats to Inter Milan. Bruno's exceptional individual skills and Thereau's physical presence as a target man frequently caused chaos for Inter Milan.
Unable to break through and with their defense frequently under threat, Inter Milan players became increasingly frustrated, even leading to internal conflicts. In the 82nd minute, substitute Osvaldo was displeased with Nagatomo's cross and loudly berated him, nearly sparking a physical altercation among the Inter players. Seeing this, the home fans at San Siro erupted in anger, cursing their team for fighting among themselves when they were losing and time was running out.
Bruno, observing from not far away, was dumbfounded by Osvaldo's actions. "No wonder he's known for causing internal conflicts," he thought. Although tempted to provoke Nagatomo further, Bruno decided against it, considering the potential risks. Watching Nagatomo meekly take the criticism, Bruno muttered to himself, "What a pushover!"
After this internal conflict, Inter Milan players lost any remaining focus on attacking. When the referee blew the final whistle after three minutes of added time, the score remained 1-2. Udinese had defeated the Nerazzurri at the San Siro, securing their fourth consecutive league win and moving to the top of the Serie A standings with 35 points, overtaking Juventus, who had 33 points.
After 14 rounds, Udinese had 11 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, sitting at the top with 35 points. Juventus followed with 10 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss, totaling 33 points. Roma, with 10 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses, was in third place with 32 points. The Giallorossi had also dropped points this round, drawing 2-2 with Sassuolo at the Stadio Olimpico. Roma was fortunate to salvage a point, having been 0-2 down at halftime.
After the match, "La Gazzetta dello Sport" reported that Udinese's goal that turned the game around should have been disallowed, claiming Widmer fouled Medel when he won the ball, and the referee should have stopped the play. In response, "Tuttosport" mocked Milan's inability to accept defeat, arguing that if such tackles were always considered fouls, countless goals in Serie A would be disallowed, making the game unplayable.
"La Gazzetta dello Sport" fired back, accusing the Turin-based paper of lacking principles for defending Udinese after being dethroned by them. "Tuttosport" countered, stating that Juventus respects referees, and their stance had nothing to do with their league position. Despite not leading the table, Juventus remains in the title race with Udinese and Roma, while AC Milan and Inter Milan are close to joining the relegation battle.
Both Milan clubs lost again this round. Inter Milan lost 1-2 to Udinese at home, while AC Milan had earlier lost 0-1 away to Genoa. After 14 rounds, AC Milan had only 21 points, ranking 8th in Serie A, while Inter Milan, with 17 points, was 12th. AC Milan was 10 points clear of the relegation zone, but Inter Milan was only 6 points above it. Juventus fans didn't forget the Milan clubs' earlier ridicule when Juventus was held by Udinese. Now, they were eager to return the favor, making Milan's frustration even greater. This led to a heated exchange between the fans of the two clubs, leaving Udinese out of the conflict.
After training, Guidolin discussed the situation with his coaching staff and team captains during a pre-match meeting. "What does this indicate?" he asked.
Assistant coach Diego Portoluzzi responded, "They're ignoring us and only arguing among themselves."
Guidolin nodded, then looked at the others. Bruno thought for a moment and said, "Even though we're currently the league leaders and Milan and Juventus are hostile towards us, fundamentally, Juventus only sees the Milan clubs as their true rivals. They don't even consider Roma a threat, let alone us. For the Milan clubs, Juventus is always the main enemy, so they don't see us as real contenders yet."
Honestly, since Guidolin took over, Udinese's Serie A rankings had been impressive, finishing 4th, 3rd, 5th, and 2nd in the past four seasons. In the last five seasons, Udinese was one of the most consistent teams in Serie A, only alongside Napoli in staying in the top five. Other teams had all dropped out of the top five at some point.
While in Guidolin's first three seasons, Udinese was mainly competing for European spots without posing much of a threat for the title, from last season, they became genuine title contenders. Last season, despite Juventus eventually winning by a large margin, Udinese's first-half performance was on par with Juventus. However, focusing on the Europa League and Coppa Italia in the second half, coupled with a thin squad, led to Juventus pulling ahead. This strategic choice brought unprecedented success to Udinese, winning their first major trophies by clinching both the Coppa Italia and the Europa League.
This summer, Udinese sold several key players, earning substantial funds, yet maintained strong competitiveness in both the Champions League and Serie A. In the Champions League group stage, they outperformed giants Real Madrid, leading the group and on the verge of qualifying for the knockout stage as group winners. In Serie A, consecutive wins against the Milan clubs propelled them past Juventus to the top of the standings. Despite this, the traditional Serie A powerhouses didn't see Udinese as a real threat due to their business model.
Even with recent success, Udinese remained a "supermarket" for bigger clubs, selling their best players. The Serie A big three knew that no matter how well Udinese performed, their top players would eventually be poached, preventing them from threatening the big three's dominance. In Serie A, only the big three could challenge each other's status; the rest were considered fleeting.
If Juventus and the Milan clubs truly saw Udinese as a threat, what would they do? They would set aside their differences, unite against Udinese, and sensationalize the issue, falsely claiming Udinese was favored by referees, despite it being untrue. This collective pressure from the big three would ensure stricter refereeing against Udinese in future matches.
"This is our chance," Bruno said again. "Before Milan and Juventus take us seriously, we need to win the games we should and collect as many points as possible." Seeing Bruno's confidence, Guidolin and Di Natale were impressed. Even though they were aware of Bruno's ambitious goal to win the league, the idea was still astonishing. Udinese was a small club, and despite their surprise wins in the Coppa Italia and Europa League last season, they had never seriously aimed for the Serie A title.
As seasoned figures in Italian football, Guidolin and Di Natale knew how difficult it was for any team outside the big three to win the league. The last non-big-three team to win Serie A was Roma in the 2000-2001 season, achieving 75 points with 22 wins, 9 draws, and 3 losses in 34 games. However, Roma was a traditional strong team, and that era was the tail end of the "Golden Age" of Serie A.
In the new century, the big three's dominance solidified, making it nearly impossible for other teams to win the title. Bruno's bold declaration to lead Udinese to the Serie A championship was truly audacious.
(End of Chapter)
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