Despite their draw against Cagliari, Inter Milan is very close to celebrating the title of Italian champion this Sunday, after the matches of the 32nd day of Serie A.
Inter Milan, held in check by Cagliari (2-2) on Sunday, will still have a first title shot next weekend thanks to a new misstep by AC Milan during a 32nd day marked by Evan Ndicka’s discomfort which led to the match between Udinese and AS Roma being stopped. Inter missed the opportunity to increase their lead at the top of the Italian Championship standings to sixteen points.
The Nerazzurri, deprived of Lautaro Martinez and Benjamin Pavard, suspended, nevertheless led twice against the promoted Sardinian, notably thanks to the eleventh goal in Serie A from Marcus Thuram (12th). But Cagliari equalized twice, snatching a draw in the 83rd minute to the great dismay of the 70,000 spectators at San Siro.
Inter, with its 14 points lead over Milan, remains well on its way to winning the 20th title in its history, but Simone Inzaghi’s team will have to win the derby on April 22 to be crowned on the 33rd day. AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli has no illusions about the outcome of this season, but he intends to delay Inter’s coronation. “Inter will win the title, but we will do everything to ensure that it does not happen in the derby, we owe it to our supporters“, declared the Italian technician.
Double for Lauriente
His team, which remained on five victories in the league, completely missed its start to the match against Sassuolo: in the absence of Mike Maignan, spared, and with Giroud and Christian Pulisic on the bench, the Rossoneri were led 2 to 0 after ten minutes of play. Rafael Leao reduced the score (20th), but Sassuolo took off again thanks to Armand Lauriente for his second goal of the afternoon. The French striker inexplicably missed a chance in the 58th minute to make it 4-1 and knock out the Lombards. The entries of Giroud and Pulisic woke up AC Milan: Luka Jovic reduced the score, then Noah Okafor equalized (84th).
In Udine, the match between the home team and AS Roma was stopped in the 72nd minute when the score was 1-1. Roma’s Franco-Ivorian defender Evan Ndicka collapsed complaining of severe pain in his heart. His teammates immediately called the club’s medical staff, who were quickly joined by the emergency services equipped with a defibrillator.
Ndicka “feels better”
Ndicka, who always remained conscious according to images from the DAZN platform, was quickly evacuated on a stretcher and gave a thumbs up to indicate that he was fine. AS Roma then indicated on its X account (ex-Twitter) that the player “felt better and had morale» and posted a photo of Ndicka sitting in his hospital bed, raising his right fist, his face calm. “He will remain under observation in the hospital» where he received a visit from his coach Daniele De Rossi and his captain Lorenzo Pellegrini, before their departure for Rome, Roma added.
Naples held in check
The reigning champion, Naples, no longer has much hope of saving its season with qualification for the Champions League. Napoli was held to a draw (2-2) in front of their home crowd by Frosinone. However, he led twice, but Walid Cheddira twice brought the two teams back to back (50th and 73rd). Naples, whistled by its fans at the final whistle, is now eighth, six points from fifth place which could become a qualifier for the Champions League, occupied by AS Roma.
