Entertainment

Craving A Classic Title Race? Look No Further Than Serie A

In an era with historically-dominant clubs running away with their leagues every season, it becomes difficult to appreciate their supremacy because they have largely removed the drama from domestic title races.

In France, where the title race last season was one of the best in recent memory, Paris Saint-Germain has once again sat atop the table throughout the campaign.

PSG is 13 points ahead of Marseille, even after the Parisians fell to Nantes over the weekend. Lille — last year's winners — sulk in 11th, while Monaco and Lyon, the third and fourth-place finishers in 20/21, respectively, are both outside the European spots.

Elsewhere, Bayern's lead at the top of the Bundesliga is six points, and the gap between second-place Dortmund and third-place Leverkusen is a further eight points.

As for the Premier League, Manchester City's unexpected loss to Tottenham over the weekend reignited the smoldering embers, giving Liverpool a chance to pull within three points with a matchup between the two still upcoming. 

This is a welcome break for English football fans after City's lead at the top briefly extended to double digits.

Still, even a City-Liverpool face-off down the stretch pales in comparison to the current title race in Italy — the only major European league with a true season-long fight for the title.

A trio of Serie A clubs has been neck and neck the entire campaign, with all three taking their turn at the top of the league.

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Napoli sat atop the table for most of the first half of the season following 10 wins in 11 matches to begin the campaign. AC Milan matched this run though, meaning that Napoli's advantage was only on goal difference.

Both clubs hit a rough patch before the new year, which allowed Inter Milan — boasting its own streak of 10 wins in 11 matches — to take the top spot. Inter held on for a little over a month, then came a decisive week with fixtures against rivals Milan (third place) and Napoli in second.

The Black and Blues fell to Milan thanks to a pair of Olivier Giroud goals three minutes apart in the second half. The following Saturday, Inter was unable to win in Naples, instead, settling for a 1-1 draw.

This result meant that Inter's intra-city rivals moved to the top of Serie A. The next seven days were only worse for Inter through. The club was defeated at home by Liverpool in the Champions League midweek, then on the weekend, Inter conceded twice at the San Siro against mid-table side Sassuolo while also failing to convert any of its 29 shots. 

Despite these recent struggles for Inter, neither of the other two contenders have truly been able to capitalize. Napoli drew at Cagliari after its stalemate against Inter, then most surprisingly, Milan could only earn a draw against last-place Salernitana

Throughout all of this, no team has held more than a four-point advantage at the top — and usually less than that. 

The movement and drama of the last few weeks has only resulted in Milan holding a slender two-point lead over Inter and Napoli. Plus, Inter still has a game in hand against its fellow contenders.

One cannot forget about fourth-place Juventus though. After a slow start, the Old Lady is finally starting to get going, earning more points than any other Serie A club over the last 12 matches.

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Draws in three of their last four fixtures are not ideal, but Juve's backline has been nearly impenetrable of late as the club has methodically moved up the table.

The matches between the top four have largely been played already, leaving only Napoli-Milan early next month and Inter-Juve in April as the only six-pointers remaining. 

With many of the top European leagues already decided, turn your attention to the first-class entertainment that will be unfolding in Serie A in the latter half of the season.

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