The big showdown in Serie A is expected on Sunday, when fierce rivals AC Milan and Inter will play their matches against Sassuolo and Sampdoria in order to determine who will be the next champion of Italy. Also, the Champions League spots were secured way before the last round and Milan, Inter, Napoli and Juventus made it through to the Europe’s most valuable championship. With last night’s comfortable win in Torino, Roma also secured it’s place in the Europa League along with fierce rivals Lazio, no matter happens today. So, apart from the first place and relegation battle (between Cagliari and Salernitana), there will be a battle for the place in the Conference League between Atalanta and Fiorentina. The Gigliati are facing a much tougher task, as they host Juventus, led by their former player Dušan Vlahović. According to the stats table, Juventus are undefeated in 21 of their last 23 Serie A matches, while Fiorentina, have lost five of their last six games. The Bianconeri have lost only two of their last 16 Serie A games against Fiorentina and they have kept eight clean sheets during this period, especially since Allegri again became the coach.Today against Fiorentina, Juventus will play the 3000th match in the serie A: 2999 matches 1652 victories (record) 810 draw 537 defeats Record 5247 received 2837 5672 points (a record number) #Juventus #Fiorentina #Italy pic.twitter.com/SM4vDNoS7o— Kingdom of Juventus (@Juventusnj) May 21, 2022 The Italian tactician is well known for his defensive tactics and was even mocked by his own players recently. Alvaro Morata was one of them during a video game playthrough session with his Juventus team-mates ahead of the club’s final game of the season. Federico Chiesa and Giorgio Chiellini played against Arthur and Alvaro Morata, a challenge to Konami’s eFootball 2022 video games. The video features the four Juventus players , who in pairs competed in a virtual match. The Spanish striker at one point joked about his coach’s tactics when he said “An incredible figure, zero shots on goal! The coach would be proud of us”.Thank you capitano #Chiellini #Juventus #Juve pic.twitter.com/smYHkCadnk— Juventus (@thejuventus_tv) May 16, 2022 Maybe Morata was joking with Allegri knowing that it won’t matter much, because the Spaniard will almost certainly come back to Atletico Madrid after the season is over. Juventus need some reinforcements, especially in the midfield department, so a 35 million euros is too big for the Old Lady to give to Morata. It is not known if Allegri will give former Chelsea striker a chance to play against Fiorentina, but one thing is sure: Giorgio Chiellini and Paulo Dybala will participate. The duo is set to leave the club in the end and Allegri already announced that they will participate in today’s match.“We are all going to Florence apart from Danilo, Federico Chiesa and Mattia De Sciglio. Everyone else is available and Weston McKennie might even get to play a few minutes. Chiellini leaves a big gap in this team, because he has been an extraordinary defender and still is, because he will be playing tomorrow. The lessons he taught the players will remain going forward” Allegri told Juventus TV.From Inter’s tormentor to Juve’s traitor: Times and lives of Paulo DybalaUnlike Fiorentina, Atalanta should have an easier task, at least on paper, since Bergamo team is hosting Empoli in their quest for the Conference League spot. It’s been a disappointing season for Atalanta, who failed to qualify for the Champions League or the Europa League for the first time since 2017/18. That year, Gian Piero Gasperini’s team finished 7th (they are currently 8th) and after that, three consecutive years they finished at the 3rd spot. So, it’s a big failure for Atalanta, who needs to win now, and hope that Juventus will take at least one point in Fiorentina. For this game, they will have Josip Ilicic back in the team. The Slovenian international is back after suffering mental health concerns following the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, which hit Bergamo harder than any other city in Italy. This also could be his last game in the Atalanta shirt, even thou he has a contract until 2023, but a retirement is a possibility for the 34-year old. If it happens, it would be nice to leave with a European place secured.SERIE A – ROUND 38FridayTorino – Roma 0-3 (0-2)/Abraham 33, 42 pen, Pellegrini 78 pen/Saturday18.15: (2.55) Genoa (3.35) Bologna (2.80)21.45: (1.28) Atalanta (6.50) Empoli (10.0)21.45: (1.94) Fiorentina (3.50) Juventus (4.10)21.45: (1.78) Lazio (3.80) Verona (4.70)Sunday13.30: (6.00) Spezia (4.20) Napoli (1.58)19.00: (1.16) Inter (9.50) Sampdoria (16.0)19.00: (7.00) Sassuolo (4.50) Milan (1.52)22.00: (1.77) Salernitana (3.80) Udinese (5.50)22.00: (5.20) Venezia (3.70) Cagliari (1.79)***odds are subject to change
