No sooner had we said hello to 2026 and I predicted the most exciting title race in Europe, then one team in Serie A took control.
Within a week, Inter Milan had breathing space and that gap has grown only wider as they’ve created Serie A 2026 highlights on a regular basis ever since.
Their dominance at the top was emphasised by a masterful victory at Lazio.
Perhaps it was a good time to play Maurizio Sarri’s men as they prepare for Wednesday’s Coppa Italia final against the same opponents.
But if it was a dress rehearsal for what is to come, then it will take some stopping Inter from completing a league and cup double.
Lautaro Martinez, Marcus Thuram and Petar Sucic were the men on target as the Nerazzurri eased to a 3-0 win against hosts reduced to 10 men after Alessio Romagnoli’s red card on the hour mark.
Cristian Chivu deserves much credit since taking over from Simone Inzaghi last summer, the man who did so much to bring Inter back to the top of the Italian game and make them a serious threat in Europe again.
If the newly crowned champions are the undisputed number one, the remaining question at the top end is who can be the ‘best of the rest’.
Well, that looks like last year’s champions Napoli, even more so after the weekend’s results.
Ahead of their match at home to Bologna on Monday night, they saw their closest rivals in the race for second, AC Milan, lose at home to Atalanta.
So much so, that their Champions League qualification place is now under threat.
Perhaps when I predicted such an exciting title race in January, I was actually referring to the race for a top four finish.
At the San Siro, where passionate home fans staged protests against some of the club’s hierarchy, Milan could have done with a strong start. Already without Luka Modric, the suspended Fikayo Tomori, they then saw Christian Pulisic ruled out with a muscular injury on the eve of the contest.
Their luck was out when Adrien Rabiot’s shot smacked against the outside of the upright. Within minutes, play was at the other end and Ederson drilled low into the far bottom corner to give the visitors the lead.
Just before the half hour, Davide Zappacosta shrugged off Matteo Gabbia and also drilled into the far bottom corner to double Atalanta’s advantage.
There quickly became gaps in the home crowd when La Dea added a third as Ederson sent Giacomo Raspadori down the left and he threaded the ball through the eye of a needle.
Atalanta have not been quite the same since Gian Piero Gasperini departed but they were on course for one of their best wins of the season.
Milan kept pushing and hit the woodwork again via substitute Christopher Nkunku before two goals in the final seconds put some respectability on the scoreline.
Their first home goal in more than 300 minutes of football arrived in the 88th minute when Samuele Ricci’s free kick to the back post was nodded in by Strahinja Pavlovic.
It was the fourth minute of stoppage time when Nkunku ran into the box and went down over Marten de Roon’s challenge before converting the resulting penalty.
That result, coupled with what went on in Parma, has caused a serious question mark against their participation at Europe’s top table next season.
Donyell Malen was the Roma hero with a penalty in the 11th minute of stoppage time.
His 22nd minute opener had been cancelled out by Gabriel Strefezza moments after the restart and Parma then turned the game around completely when Mandela Keita combined with Christian Ordonez before drilling through a sea of legs with three minutes remaining.
Incredibly, the drama was just beginning.
In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Devyne Rensch’s low strike found the net and, despite home protests, was VAR checked and given the all-clear.
Moments later the same player was adjudged to have been fouled in the penalty area, the home offender received a second yellow card, and when the latest protests died down, Malen kept his cool from the penalty spot to seal a remarkable turnaround and three precious points for the Giallorossi who are now level on point with Milan.
Despite a wonderful assortment of bets, no amount of SBOTOP Serie A 2026 betting odds were predicting that with 87 minutes on the clock!
Como’s 1-0 victory away to already-relegated Verona, courtesy of a Tasos Douvikas goal, has put them back in the hunt, while Juventus are up to third after Dusan Vlahovic’s lightning strike at Lecce.
Lecce remain outside the drop zone but only by a point after Cremonese saw off rock bottom Pisa.
Jamie Vardy, Federico Bonazzoli and David Okereke were the marksmen in a 3-0 win against opponents who finished the match with nine players.
It’s exciting at both ends of the table alright – just not quite how I predicted.
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