The Monday Scratch

Juve-Milan, the festival of errors. Pulisic also misses a penalty

'Juve-Milan will be a spectacle' was the mantra on the eve of the match. But it was not so

by Dario Ceccarelli

6 October 2025

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6' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

6' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Never trust appearances. Especially in our football. 'Juve-Milan will be spectacle' was the mantra on the eve of the match. A Scudetto super-challenge, an exam for grown-ups, the battle of the giants, and so on, swelling like the frog in Aesop's fable that eventually bursts to look bigger than it is.

Talk about a spectacle! Other than football for gourmets! Other than a crossroads of destinies. This Juventus-Milan, which ended with a mediocre zero-zero, was more a festival of errors, a festival of regret, than a key moment in this championship. Too many blunders, too many chances thrown to the wind, starting with Pulisic's penalty, Milan's most in-form striker who, looking for the top right corner, clumsily headed the ball over the crossbar. Immediately afterwards Allegri put his hands in his hair (which he no longer had) because he realised that the coup de grâce of a winning return to the Stadium was fading.

In this sagrada of mistakes that turn into horrors, Milan won on points, adding to Pulisic's missed penalty also two great opportunities that ended up at the feet of Leao, who entered the second half as expected. In the best of the chances, the Portuguese had a good ball on the doorstep, but his left-footed shot, unconvincingly delivered, turned it badly and sent Allegri mad.

But the black and whites also played their part in this donkey race. In the first half, it was the Canadian David who devoured an opportunity that had to be punished with a red card. In the second half, before Pulisic's foul play, it was Gatti, one metre from the goal, who struck a half-volley with the confidence of the predestined. An illusion, too, because Maignan, with an appreciable leap, repelled the danger. Good Maignan or wasteful Gatti? You be the judge of that.

It must be a virus running around these days, that of making mistakes when you shouldn't. Especially from the penalty spot. Pulisic missed against Juve, but in the week it was Roma in Europe who started the dance by missing three consecutive penalties. Here we are really on the edge of reality, but the penalty angst is certainly nothing new this past week.

The great Paulo Roberto Falcao in the famous Champions Cup final with Liverpool (1984) even refused to beat them in front of the fans at the Stadio Olimpico. And on penalties the Reds won. Not to mention Evaristo Beccalossi's famous double mistake in Inter-Bratislava at San Siro in 1982. Those two missed penalties ('I am Evaristo, sorry if I insist') gave the comedian Paolo Rossi the inspiration to give him the ode to Evaristo.

Returning to Juventus-Milan, certainly the Rossoneri came closest to victory. But if you don't score, you pay the price. This draw allowed Roma and Napoli, winners over Fiorentina and Genoa, to remain alone at the top of the table. Milan, after four consecutive victories, slip to second place at 13, two less than the leaders, one more than Juventus who continue to draw. 'We had them in the bag and we had to win,' Allegri blurted out, also picking on Leao ('On certain occasions he has to score goals'). Tudor, on the other hand, turns a deaf ear. 'The booing? I didn't hear it,' the Bianconeri coach cuts it short.

Napoli-Genoa 2-1
Winning is always good, but this pigeon-toed Napoli did not excite, on the contrary. In the first half it even went under thanks to a magical heel from Ekhator that froze the Maradona. In the second half, more with heart than with play, Conte's team went upstream. First with a header from Anguissa and then with Hojlund, who did well to find himself in the right place. Three precious points that left the partenopei at the top, but paid with the heavy tariffs of the injuries to Lobotka and Politano, who went out with muscle problems. Politano will miss the national team, one more problem for Gattuso, one less for Conte.

Inter - Cremonese 4-1
Look who's back: the Inter that hurts. Which, like a steamroller, flattens the opponents. But not the one of Inzaghi, of which ungenerously one remembers only the sad solitario y final, but the Inter of Chivu that with a flooding 4-1 overwhelms the Cremonese, which had never lost so far. Good sign? Being the fifth consecutive victory between championship and Champions League, it can be said that yes, Inter is back. Perhaps, with the addition of Yoann Bonney (one goal and three assists) and the recovery of Barella and Dimarco, even more structured than before. Chivu is working well: fewer passes back, quickness and many shots on goal. For the Scudetto, he must also be reckoned with.

Fiorentina v Roma 1-2Nothing to do. A pearl from Kean after 8 minutes was not enough. Roma, by hook or by crook, continued to win. It is now in the lead with 15 points from six matches. The opposite of Fiorentina, once again unlucky (Kean's post, Piccoli's crossbar and a goal eaten away by Gosens. Gasp's men were more concrete, and with Soulé and Cristante they drowned the violets, who after six days only had three points, all taken out of Florence. The draw could have fit, but when you are too unlucky, something is wrong. Kean is making great progress, but he is preaching in a desert that is beginning to irritate the purple fans. And Roma? 'No one is considering us,' Gasp points out, laughing under the moustache he doesn't have.

Bologna-Pisa 4-0 A beautiful poker launches Bologna to its third success at the Dall'Ara. The Pisans did everything they could to make things easy for the Emilians, but this Bologna is a beautiful sight. Among the good news of the day is the personal show of Nicolò Cambiaghi, sparkling and dragging after Gattuso's call-up for the national team. A goal, an assist and an expulsion foul procured (red on Touré) earned him the ovation of the Emilian fans. After the three Rossoblù goals (Cambiaghi, Moro and Orsolini) the game went downhill. The fourth goal l in the second half was scored by Odgaard with a shot from outside the box. To be noted: the debut in A, in the Pisa attack, of Luis Thomas Buffon, 17 years old, son of Gigi. It was not the best day to make his debut, but best wishes all the same.

Udinese-Cagliari 1-1 The Friulians, along with Juventus and Milan, could easily go to the waste fair for what they did wrong by allowing Cagliari to return to Sardinia with a draw that was not exactly deserved. The Sardinians had gone ahead with Borrelli and then reached by Cabasele in the second half. For Udinese it seemed done, but if you don't score on an empty goal, and you hit two posts, you can only blame yourself. In particular Zaniolo's blunder, but Bayo's in the final is also a museum of horrors.

Lazio-Torino 3-3
A strange, whirlwind match with six goals that you can't tell if they are more the result of mistakes or skill. Torino won a precious draw, but the granata were actually eating their hands as they were caught up in the 103rd minute by a Cataldi penalty that had previously sparked a maxi brawl mishandled by referee Piccinini. Lazio, penalised by injuries and supported by an explosive Cancielleri (a double to applause) nevertheless stayed in the game until the last second. Credit must be given to them.

Parma-Lecce 0-1The first victory in the championship for the Salentini who, in the end, deserved the three points. The goal arrived almost by chance (Sottil's cross-shot deceiving Suzuki) but Lecce expertly harnessed the Emilians who did nothing to get out of the trap. A challenge that will not remain in the annals.

Verona-Sassuolo 0-1
A controversial penalty was also at the centre of the scene here: Pinamonti first had his centrally-taken penalty disallowed by Montipò, then on the subsequent rebound he still managed to score. Between Verona and Sassuolo, in Friday's early kick-off, the Emilian side were smiling, rising to nine points and condemning the Gialloblù to a break for the national team that was anything but quiet.