Capello: "Chivu is confused – why drop Esposito? It’s a tight race between Inter and Milan; let’s wait three matchdays – a five-point gap doesn’t necessarily mean the title race is back on"

A comment from the former coach, now a pundit

"Inter’s draw with Atalanta will have brought joy to Milanello, but the away trip to Rome is by no means to be taken lightly. And sometimes, when you’re fired up and trying too hard, you overdo it and it ends badly." Fabio Capello spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport, warning Milan ahead of their away match against Lazio, a game worth another two points to chip away at Inter’s lead and close the gap to five points in the table. Allegri is good at reading the situation and has a wealth of experience. What’s more, he’s always measured in his comments. Even yesterday at the press conference, he rightly kept a low profile, continuing to focus on the Champions League and barely touching on the Scudetto: if Milan were to close the gap to five points, it wouldn’t automatically mean the title race would be wide open. Dreaming and hoping is always fair game. But everything would still depend on Inter, who would need to drop points in at least another two or three matches. And at the same time, Milan mustn’t stop winning. Starting right here tonight in Rome.”

Between
"To be honest, my impression is that Chivu is a bit at a loss. I wasn’t convinced by the substitutions. Why take off Esposito, who was preventing the team from being pinned back and forcing Atalanta not to push too far forward? After that, in fact, Atalanta started to take control of the game."

MILAN INDIVIDUALS
"Jashari for Rabiot? I don’t know him well enough yet to pass judgement. If Allegri prefers him to Ricci, however, he’ll have his reasons. I just know that Milan will need to be very organised, because Lazio can give them a run for their money. Pulisic? I expect more from Leao. The American has only just returned and is improving. Whereas the Portuguese player seems to me to have lost his best qualities, namely his acceleration and his one-on-one ability. Perhaps he’s not quite back to his best yet, but I didn’t rate him highly in the derby and when he had chances to score, he was unusually slow and got flustered when it came to finishing.”
The title race
"Let’s wait and see what happens over the next three matchdays (laughs – ed.). Inter face Fiorentina away, then Roma at home and Como away: three teams who need points and are tough opponents. If Chivu were to drop more points along the way and, at the same time, Milan were to take maximum points…"