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Serie A has a problem, and its name is boredom. Last night’s 0-0 at San Siro, in what was supposed to be the showpiece match of Matchday 34, ended up being the worst possible advertisement for Italian football, in a weekend when the spotlight was already on our league for a far less noble reason: the investigation into the work of referees’ chief Gianluca Rocchi.
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A point that moves Milan and Juve up the table, but one that disappointed the crowd at San Siro, who did not spare either team from boos at the final whistle. The numbers on chances created speak clearly: 0.65xG for the Rossoneri against 0.52xG for the Bianconeri. Little, far too little.
The match between Allegri and Spalletti, however, was not an isolated case. In the reverse fixture, in fact, Juve-Milan had also ended goalless, with the only difference being that Igor Tudor was on the Old Lady’s bench at the time. Sticking with yesterday, the game at San Siro was the third goalless draw of the matchday, after Hellas-Lecce and Fiorentina-Sassuolo. Again, not exactly the best way to promote the product.
🫣 A 0-0 record!
The number of 0-0s has now risen to 30 in Serie A, an extremely high figure. Among Europe’s top five leagues, no one can keep up with us. The Premier League is on 23, Ligue 1 on 18, La Liga on 13 and, finally, the Bundesliga, which has just 12 goalless matches.
With two more games still to be played tonight, there is a risk of setting a new season record, after there were as many as four 0-0s on Matchday 7 and only eleven goals in total.
Leading this special ranking is Parma, who have finished a match without conceding on as many as 6 occasions. Then come Verona and Cremonese on 5, followed by the group made up of Como, Lazio, Genoa, Pisa, Fiorentina and Lecce on 4.
🤔 The solution from… Serie B?
Looking at the teams involved, it is easy to see how many of these 0-0s are driven by fear or a lack of motivation. So why not take a cue from Serie B, one of the most unpredictable and exciting leagues in the world?
Thanks to the playoffs and playouts, in fact, there is currently not a single club without something to play for. The promotion race is one of the best ever, with three teams fighting for two places with just 180 minutes left. There is also a battle in the playoff zone, where apart from Palermo and Catanzaro, certain of finishing 4th and 5th respectively, everyone from Modena in 6th to Carrarese in 10th can still dream.
At the back, finally, no one is certain of anything, not even Padova in 14th, who, with a series of unlikely combinations, could slip from 14th to 18th, which would mean relegation.
🤷♂️ No more time should be wasted
In short, something should also be rethought when it comes to Serie A. Perhaps by introducing a playout, which would already cut in half the number of “safe” teams and therefore those with no motivation left. A playoff for the Scudetto and the Champions League would probably be unthinkable, but a solution for the European qualification spots could come from the introduction of a playoff for, say, the Conference League.
For now, it is just imagination. Between the FIGC without a president, the national team out of the World Cup and without a head coach, and the chaos surrounding the investigation into the work of the referees’ chief, the Serie A format is probably not the priority right now. It seems clear, however, that sooner or later things will have to change, one way or another. Our football has already lost too much time and, above all, appeal.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.
