Serie A weekend talking points

MILAN WILL NEVER GET BETTER TITLE SHOT

For a club of AC Milan's stature, with seven European Cups to their name, having to wait 11 years for a Serie A title is too long.

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This season, with champions Inter Milan struggling for form at the wrong moment, Stefano Pioli's side are in a strong position to end that barren run, with none of their title rivals still to play them.

Their performance in Saturday's 1-0 win over Empoli was anything but vintage, but they got the victory when not at their best - as champions do.

"We shouldn't look too far ahead," Pioli told DAZN after Saturday's win, trying to keep his side's feet firmly planted on the ground.

"I will only talk about the title before the last day of the season."

JUVE COULDN'T, COULD THEY?

Juventus' defeat at home to Atlanta at the end of November - a fifth loss in 14 Serie A games - left them in eighth place as doubts persisted over whether coach Massimiliano Allegri was right to return to the club for a second time.

However, Allegri has overseen a dramatic turnaround at Serie A's most successful team, lifting Juve back into the title race - something Allegri has tried hard to play down, insisting they are still too far behind.

Juve's 3-1 win at Sampdoria on Saturday, however, means they have lost once in 21 matches in all competitions since that Atalanta defeat, to sit fourth seven points behind leaders Milan with nine games to play.

It would take a seismic shift for them to overcome Milan, Inter Milan and Napoli and take home the Scudetto once again, but if anyone knows how to get over the line it is Juve and Allegri.

BLESSIN AND GENOA THE ULTIMATE DRAW SPECIALISTS

A hard-fought 0-0 draw at Atalanta on Sunday pulled 19th-placed Genoa one point closer to the safety zone as they continued a tendency to draw under new coach Alexander Blessin.

Since the German took over in January, Genoa have drawn seven league matches in a row for the first time ever. In the last 30 years only Inter have drawn seven Serie A games in a row - between October and November 2004 under Roberto Mancini.

Going unbeaten in seven games is admirable for the struggling side but given Genoa are six points from the safety zone, they are going to have to soon start winning matches.