Inter visits Atalanta as Scudetto race heats up
Serie A leader Inter Milan face third-placed Atalanta in a mouthwatering clash on Monday (AEDT), with only three points separating the two team with 10 rounds of matches remaining.
Inter has 61 points and leadd 2023 champion Napoli, which visits second-bottom outfit Venezia, by a point, with Simone Inzaghi's side needing a win to guarantee keeping top spot before the international break.
The Nerazzurri have been flying in the UEFA Champions League, reaching the quarter-finals where they play Bayern Munich, but they have won only three of their past seven Serie A games, losing two.
They had suffered only one league defeat prior to that this season, which was at home to AC Milan in late September.
Indeed, Inter is winless in its past four Serie A away games, after a prior run of eight consecutive wins on the road.
It has not gone five consecutive away games without a win since doing so from December 2017 to February 2018.
However, a 2-1 win over visiting Feyenoord in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League in midweek, which secured a 4-1 aggregate victory, should inspire confidence.
Inter was given a real scare by bottom club Monza before coming back to win 3-2 at San Siro last weekend, and has not won consecutive league games in nearly two months.
"It's true that the numbers in the [UEFA] Champions League are different to the league," Inzaghi said after completing his 200th game as Inter coach against Feyenoord.
"But we're in the mix in all competitions, happily so."
Atalanta, meanwhile, exited the UEFA Champions League and Coppa Italia last month – Inter faces AC Milan in the Coppa Italia semi-finals – and can focus on the prospect of a first Serie A title.
Inter and Atalanta are the league's top scorers with 63 goals each, while La Dea has conceded 26 to Inter's 27.
But coach Gian Piero Gasperini's Bergamo-based side has also struggled to regain momentum in the title race of late.
Atalanta has won only four of its past 11 Serie A outings, after an impressive streak of 11 straight wins between October and December, the longest in the club's history.
It has not won any of its five home games in the league in 2025, drawing each of the past three.
However, Atalanta has lost just one of its past 23 league matches, winning 15 of them, with its only defeat in this period coming against Napoli in January.
Napoli's trip to Venezia earlier follows a 2-1 home win over Fiorentina that ended a five-game winless run for Antonio Conte's men.
It can move to the top of the table with a victory and would stay there for the international break if Inter fails to bring three points back from Atalanta.
Draw specialist Juventus, which like Atalanta only has Serie A to concentrate on, has gradually worked its way up the standings into fourth spot on 52 points.
It was routed 4-0 at home by Atalanta last weekend but can take encouragement from a five-game winning run before that defeat, as it prepares to travel to eighth-placed Fiorentina.
Juve needs a win to stay ahead in the race for a top-four finish, with Lazio chasing in fifth one point back.
Thiago Motta's Juve has won its past two away league games, against Como and Cagliari, and could record three consecutive Serie A wins on the road for the first time since January 2024.
Ninth-placed AC Milan, 17 points adrift of Inter and eight points off the top four, hosts Cesc Fabregas's Como on Sunday (AEDT).
