AC Milan one step away from creating history

This weekend, four of Europe’s top five leagues draw to a close, leaving plenty to be determined with the Premier League and Serie A championships still up for grabs.

After years of sheer dominance from Juventus, the Italian club has taken a downwards slide on its reputation since last year.

While AC and Inter Milan are up against each other in the battle for the Scudetto with Inter almost pulling off a miracle this year and continuing to thrive after the painful departures of Antonio Conte, Romelu Lukaku, and Achraf Hakimi; Milan has now been playing well together for almost three years; and Napoli is at an excellent level, even if they lack the necessary solidity.

Competition so far

The two teams have mostly played at the same level. Inter’s defeat at Bologna was made possible by goalkeeper Ionut Radu’s error in the most recent derby (2-1 win for Milan). The details have never made such a difference as they did this year.

And anything may happen on the Championship’s last Sunday.

With a brace in Inter Milan’s 3-1 win over Cagliari on Sunday, Lautaro Martinez assured the Serie A title battle will enter the final week of the season two points behind leaders AC Milan.

After Milan beat Atalanta 2-0 earlier in the day, reigning champions Inter needed to win to keep their league title.

Mattia Darmian’s and Martinez’s goals in each half assured Simone Inzaghi’s side would push their local rivals to the limit with a hard-fought victory in Sardinia.

Meanwhile, Cagliari remains two points behind Salernitana, who is just outside the relegation zone.

Inter should have been exhausted following their exciting extra-time Italian Cup victory over Juventus on Wednesday, but they came through a tough test against a team fighting for its top-flight survival.

When Darmian put the away side ahead, they had previously had a Milan Skriniar goal called out for handball, and Martinez thought that was the end of it when he smashed in his first six minutes after the break.

Cagliari’s Charalampos Lykogiannis slammed home from distance nearly immediately after, but Inter’s fears were calmed when Martinez dinked home his second with six minutes remaining.

The Equation

Inter visit Sampdoria on the last day, who are now safe courtesy of Cagliari’s defeat, while Milan travel to Sassuolo needing only a point to clinch their first Scudetto since 2011.

Stefano Pioli’s side has won both of the season’s Milan derbies, meaning Milan will win the title if the two sides finish level on points.

They lead Inter thanks to goals from Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez, who helped them beat Atalanta in front of a raucous San Siro crowd.

After 56 minutes, Leao scored after intercepting a Messi through ball and blasting past Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso, and Hernandez added a second 19 minutes later after a stunning solo move through the Atalanta defence.

Farewell

In his farewell home game for Napoli, Lorenzo Insigne scored in a 3-0 win over Genoa, who were relegated to Serie B.

After 12 years with his local club, Insigne played his final match at the Diego Maradona Stadium. From July 1, the Napoli captain will join the MLS team Toronto FC as a free agent.

After an hour, Insigne scored Napoli’s second goal from the penalty spot, with Victor Osimhen and Stanislav Lobotka also scoring for the third-placed southeners, who will play in the Champions League next season.

Lecce and Cremonese have been promoted to the top flight, with four other clubs still battling in the play-offs.