MILAN, Dec 7 — Talking points from the Serie A weekend:
Ranieri impressed by Milan’s youthful exuberance
Leaders AC Milan again made light of striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s absence in the 2-1 win at Sampdoria and even rival coach Claudio Ranieri was impressed by a side whose starting line-up had an average age of under 23.
“Milan play good football, they move in a synchronised way to break down the defensive line,” Ranieri said. “They look in good shape physically — you wouldn’t have thought that they had played another game three days earlier.
“I don’t know if they are the strongest team in the title race, but there is a youthful light-heartedness that makes them do things that you might not do with more experienced players who tend to think too much.”
Thirty-nine-year-old Ibrahimovic is Milan’s leading scorer with 10 league goals but, even when he is not playing, Milan have been unstoppable, winning all four Serie A matches this season when he has been absent.
Milan’s record of eight wins in their first 10 league games is their best since 1954-55 and they are unbeaten in their last 22 Serie A matches, a run stretching back to March 8. They have also scored in each of their last 30 league matches, a club record.
Lonely Eriksen’s unhappy season continues
Inter Milan midfielder Christian Eriksen’s unhappy season continued when the Dane again started on the bench for the 3-1 win over Bologna and had to wait until stoppage time to get on the pitch.
After the match, he posted a photograph of himself on his Facebook page with a message which simply said “alone”.
Eriksen has started only three of Inter’s 10 Serie A games this season and has played a total of six minutes in the last four.
“The relationship with Christian, like all the players, is a very good one,” said coach Antonio Conte. “I will never tire of repeating it over and over again.
“All the choices I make are for the good of Inter. He is working, he is committed, he is available”.
Torino squander yet another lead
Torino’s 2-1 defeat by their bigger neighbours Juventus on Saturday was the seventh time in 10 league games this season they have led in a match and failed to win.
The Bulls also squandered one-goal leads against Atalanta, Cagliari, Lazio and Sampdoria, and two-goal leads against Sassuolo and Inter Milan — losing the latter game 4-2.
That has left them two places off the bottom with six points and only one win — something coach Marco Giampaolo is not keen to talk about.
“I’m not going to comment on what has happened in previous games,” he said. “We need to be strong and have faith.” — Reuters
