It would take a real miracle for Inter Milan not to clinch their 20th Serie A title this season, their first since the 2020/2021 season. With seven more rounds remaining in Serie A until tonight, they had a 14-point lead over their closest pursuers and arch rivals AC Milan, and fans were already calculating where and when they can celebrate the title. The projection is clear: if Inter defeats Cagliari, they will have the opportunity for the sweetest possible championship celebration. In front of the fans of their bitterest rival, next weekend. For Inter to achieve this, all they needed was to defeat Cagliari and continue their streak of good results at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium against that opponent (five wins in their last six encounters). But they didn’t: Inter – Cagliari 2-2.
But the good news are still there: even though Inter only drew, AC Milan did the same in Sassuolo today (3-3) so the calculation remains the same – A win in ‘Derby della Madonnina’ means a title for Inter. Lautaro Martinez was serving his one-match ban, as well as Benjamin Pavard, so Alexis Sanchez came in. Claudio Ranieri’s team have only lost one of their last seven matches and were three points about relegation zone, so they came into this match with a proper doze of self-confidence.
Inter had its first chance after only five minutes when Barella lashed a right-foot volley towards the right corner but was denied by Simone Scuffet. But seven minutes later, Sanchez was unleashed by Matteo Darmian, he put across a pinpoint ball on the byline and Marcus Thuram was there to open the scoring. At that point, the fans at the stadium probably thought that this was the beginning of another easy and convincing victory, but things played out differently. Inter will remember a few missed chances they had tonight, among them the disallowed Barella goal (offside) and Sanchez’s close shot. And then, out of nothing, Cagliari equalized, as Shomurodov belted it into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box. Former Barcelona defender Yerry Mina handballed 10 minutes later, giving Inter another lead after Calhanoglu’s penalty conversion. But, Cagliari was not over. In the 83rd minute, Inter defense headed out one cross, the ball got to Lapadoula and his gave it to Viola who stroke it for the final 2-2.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 32Friday Lazio – Salernitana 4-1 (3-1)/Anderson 7, 35, Vecino 14, Isaksen 87 – Tchaouna 16/Saturday Lecce – Empoli 1-0 (0-0)/Sansone 89/Torino – Juventus 0-0Bologna – Monza 0-0SundayNapoli – Frosinone 2-2 (1-0)/Politano 16, Osimhen 63 – Cheddira 50, 73/Sassuolo – Milan 3-3 (2-1)/Pinamonti 4, Lauriente 10, 53 – Leao 20, Jovic 53, Okafor 84/Udinese – Roma – suspendedInter – Cagliari (1-0)/Thuram 12, Calkanoglu 74 – Shomurodov 64, Viola 82/Monday 19:30: (1.90) Fiorentina (3.45) Genoa (4.20)21:45: (1.47) Atalanta (4.30) Verona (7.00)***odds are subject to change***