Who Can Stop Inter Milan?

Why was Juventus angry and felt wronged by the referee after being defeated by Inter?

The Italian Derby at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan on Sunday (15/2/2026 WIB) was won by Inter Milan, 3-2, against Juventus. "I Nerazzurri" are increasingly solid and unchallenged at the top of the standings. On the other hand, Juve returned home with anger regarding the officiating system in the Italian League.

Supporters of Juventus and neutral fans of Serie A have highlighted the role of referee Federico La Penna, who influenced the outcome of the match. La Penna issued a second yellow card to Juve's right-back, Pierre Kalulu, in the 42nd minute. This resulted in "I Bianconeri" playing with 10 players since the end of the first half.

The situation was strongly protested by Juve's Coach Luciano Spalletti along with two senior officials of Juve, Giorgio Chiellini (Football Strategy Director) and Damien Comolli (CEO). They intercepted La Penna on the stairs of the stadium's locker room during the halftime break.

Chiellini's screams were most audible from the video recording of the incident that went viral on the internet. One of the best former defenders of Juve and the Italian national team is known for his calm demeanor during matches, but his anger erupted.

"There's clearly a group of incompetent referees officiating the match. It's a shame, we have to change (the refereeing system) now," Chiellini told Sky Sports after the match.

Spalletti refused to conduct interviews with the official broadcasting rights holders after the match. He also did not attend the post-match press conference. In addition to Spalletti, no Juventus players stopped to respond to interview requests in the mixed zone before leaving the stadium.

Luca Marelli, a former referee of the Italian League who observed the match on DAZN, stated that La Penna made a significant mistake. He also described the VAR rule, which can only intervene in cases of direct red cards, as absurd.

"The decision was a serious error. La Penna was deceived by Bastoni's response (after the contact with Kalulu)," said Marelli.

Why is Luka Modric's role still central to AC Milan?

AC Milan could have won without drama when facing the relegation zone team, Pisa, at the Romeo Anconetani Stadium on Saturday (14/2/2026), if they had maintained the same mentality as when facing teams in the top five. However, the team coached by Massimiliano Allegri seemed to choose to complicate things for themselves before eventually winning 2-1.

The visiting team indeed dominated ball possession with 66 percent, but in terms of attacks, they were less effective than Pisa. The shooting accuracy was only 28 percent, compared to 33 percent for the home team. A significant opportunity from the penalty spot also could not be converted into a goal.

In fact, when facing the league leaders Inter Milan in the 12th week, for instance, Milan performed better. Although there is also the factor of derby prestige, at the very least, "I Rossoneri" brought a winning mentality with an effective attack rate of 42 percent, despite having only 7 shots compared to 20.

The problem is that lower-ranked teams, such as Pisa, often pose difficulties for Milan. It seems as if there is a curse haunting Milan when they face teams that, on paper, are actually weaker than them.

"Other players must learn from Luka (Modric). Aside from his extraordinary technical quality, he continues to strive and attempt to achieve victory. It is more about character," said Allegri.

Modric, named man of the match, emerged as a savior when Milan were in trouble. After Niclas Fulkrug's penalty was missed in the 56th minute, Milan conceded through Felipe Loyola in the 71st minute. A draw loomed for the visitors.

Modric was present to make a difference. The veteran midfielder surged into the penalty area through a collaboration with Samuele Ricci to ensure Milan regained the lead five minutes before the end of normal time.

Modric's winning goal made him the third oldest player to score in Serie A at the age of 40 years and 157 days. Modric joins Alessandro Costacurta and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in this achievement.

What would a top-four competition be like that's more exciting than the title race in the Italian League?

Inter Milan have widened their points lead at the top of the table. For now, the Scudetto race has become monotonous. The battle for the remaining three teams in the top four is even more exciting.

Four teams ranked second to fifth are separated by only seven points. AC Milan is in second place with a total of 53 points from 24 matches, Napoli is third with 49 points from 24 matches, Juventus has 46 points from 25 matches, and AS Roma also has 46 points from 24 matches.

In addition to those four teams that have the opportunity to pursue a top four ranking, Como, sitting in sixth place, also has a chance. The team owned by the Djarum Group from Indonesia is the seventh team to have reached 40 points in the 2025-2026 edition of the Italian League.

From Napoli's perspective, coach Antonio Conte believes it's too early to talk about the Scudetto race. He said Napoli is determined to maintain their lead at the top.

"It's an absurd question to talk about the title race right now. We're not out of the race yet because there are still a number of games to play," Conte told Sky Sport Italia.

Juve, meanwhile, gained confidence after beating Napoli, despite dropping points in their last two matches, against Lazio and Inter Milan. "This is an important win, demonstrating our commitment to what we're doing and the players' ability to perform at a high level. Big matches are an opportunity for players to showcase themselves and their identity," said Juve coach Luciano Spalletti after the Napoli victory, as reported by Tuttosport.

Why is “borrowing first” becoming Milan’s strategy trend in the winter transfer window?

Entering the 69th minute of the match against Cagliari, Saturday (3/1/2026) early morning WIB, at the Unipol Domus Stadium, AC Milan Coach Massimiliano Allegri substituted in new striker Niclas Fuellkrug to replace the sole goal scorer, Rafael Leao. Less than 24 hours after being introduced as the first signing in the winter transfer window of 2025-2026, Fuellkrug had the opportunity to make his debut with "I Rossoneri."

Wearing the number nine, Fuellkrug has become Milan's hope to be a source of goals in the second half of this season. The German forward is expected to meet Milan's need for a pure center forward.

This season, Milan's only pure poacher, Santiago Gimenez, has suffered a severe ankle injury since October. Gimenez is expected to return to the pitch by the end of February 2026.

Milan's optimism seems to overshadow the reality that Fuellkrug has only scored three goals in 28 appearances with West Ham United during 18 months of competing in the English Premier League. This is a very poor statistic given his status as a key player for the German national team.

However, it would not be the Italian League if it did not believe in the saying "there is always a second chance." Milan has loaned Fuellkrug from West Ham until the end of this season. The hope is that Fuellkrug can soon end his goal drought since April 2025.

Milan is beginning to establish itself as a team that enjoys giving second chances to great players during the winter transfer window. They loaned these players in hopes of recovering from their downturn. This can be seen from the loans of Kyle Walker and Joao Felix in January 2025. They failed to help Milan break into the European zone by the end of the 2024-2025 season.

The financial condition of Italian teams, particularly Milan, is not as strong as that of the English and German leagues, prompting them to opt for borrowing players during the second half of this season.