AC Milan In Good Form To Return To UEFA Competitions
AC Milan had one of their most disappointing seasons in a long time last season as they did not qualify for any European competitions for this season. A team that is bathed in Champions League history and many titles, it was shocking how far they fell in Serie A in 2013/14.
This season, they have started strong. They haven’t had the best start they could’ve envisioned, but they have only lost one game (Juventus) and are still atop the league in goals scored (17). Keisuke Honda has been quite the pleasant surprise with six goals already to his credit. Honda is known mainly as a corner kick and free kick specialist but he has scored some quality goals to start the season. Going into Round Nine, he is tied with Carlos Tevez for second in the league in goals.
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Their 4-3-1 record has landed them in sixth place at the moment, but are only separated by second-place AS Roma by four points. While things tend to be tight in the starting stages of the campaign, it is a league where the top two-to-three teams run away with the European places in the standings.
The first and second place team place into the UEFA Champions League group stage, with third place placing into the qualification stages. Fourth place earns a UEFA Europa League group stage spot, while fifth place earns a qualification spot for the same tournament.
The European competition race in Serie A is still murky at best. After their early struggles, Lazio has now won four straight matches and have leaped into fifth place. Their form in the last five games is only bested by Juventus in the league and are proving to be admirable foes. Sampdoria is having quite the start to the season and are currently in fourth place. They have only scored nine goals, but are tied for second for the league-low in goals against at four.
They drew against Roma, the team they are tied with in that department, this past Saturday in their first major test of the season.
Napoli could very well have revived their season with their 3-2-0 form in their last five and are the third best in Serie A right now in that span. Disappointing losses to Chievo and Udinese, despite Udinese’s recent form, plagued the start of their season. They have now beaten or drawn against teams they should be earning points against and are right behind Milan in the standings.
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Speaking of Udinese, they are poised to challenge for the Champions League this season if they keep this form. They have started this season 5-2-2 and sit in third place. Their two losses, Juventus and Torino, are the only blemishes for a team that finished 13th last season.
As for Torino, they were granted a Third Qualifying Round Europa League spot at seventh place after the FIGC rejected Parma’s UEFA license due to overdue tax debt. Parma’s season is a disaster right now with three points in eight games. Torino has eight points in eight contests and are struggling this season to stay afloat.
All of this uncertainty in the start of this season includes Milan as well. People were unsure which AC Milan would show up this season. They sold the extremely temperamental and controversial Mario Balotelli to Liverpool (which now looks like a genius move) and signed Diego Lopez from Real Madrid while adding Fernando Torres on loan from Chelsea. The personnel leads to the team either playing very successful football or falling flat on their face for Filippo Inzaghi’s first season as manager.
So far, Milan has had a couple of disappointing draws where they should’ve gained more than a point, but they have only came away empty on one occasion this season and that was to the Italian giants, Juventus.