If Juventus Beat Roma...Title Race is Over

That is what is at stake for tomorrow's game. I don't care what month we're in and how long there's left to go.

If Juventus defeat Roma tomorrow, then that would be a seven point gap that the Bianconeri will not let up. I am hoping Spaletti realises this, and gets his men revved up for the game and they are aware of the significance a loss would be.





Let's rewind the tape back to the late nineties or early millenium. Back to when the Serie A was regarded to be the best league in the world, and all the best players on the planet swarmed to it.

If any team had a seven point lead in mid December back then, it would be a sizeable lead but not unassailable. Back then, you had at least three or four teams who were on a similar level to one another. So there would always be a chance that the team at the top would hit a rough patch, and their challengers would go on a winning run to close the gap.

It's now 2016, and the Serie A is no longer regarded as the strongest league in the world. And Juventus coming off winning the Scudetto five consecutive times, it's a very different Serie A.

Sadly, the best players in the world no longer play in the Serie A, and the few that do are wearing the black and white of Juventus. There is simply no other team on the level of Juventus. There is no doubt that they have the best players, and probably the best coach.

Which means, if they go seven points clear at end of play tomorrow, they won't be caught.

I took a look at Roma play AC Milan and what worried me was how poor both teams were at keeping the ball and playing interesting football. There's always that tactical solidity with Italian clubs, but there wasn't much else.

So there I was thinking as I watched the match; these are supposed to be the challengers to Juventus? If that's so, then there is little chance that Juventus won't get that sixth title in a row.

And to think, those two teams used to have the likes of Batistuta, Cafu, Seedorf, Shevchenko, Maldini, "Peak" Totti.

Now, the only big name you can call from Roma is Salah and Milan are merely a really good team who play together but void of a world-class player.

It's a hugely important game not only for Roma but for the state of domestic Italian football. If Roma were to go to Turin and get lubricated or worse...then the one-team league notion that has detracted foreign viewers from taking a slice of some Serie A will continue.

I wouldn't put money on Roma winning, and they shouldn't bother turning up without their Egyptian firestarter. But this is football, and anything can happen once the referee blows his whistle.

As for Juventus, they are aiming for six titles in a row, and a win against their closest title rivals will all but seal it.

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