Month Of May Will Decide Inter Milan’s Season | OneFootball

May is usually the preserve of finals, with the majority of players heading to the beach or knocking on their agent’s doors demanding a move.

Not so this season however. It features five league fixtures and will be pivotal in deciding the top six positions in Serie A.

What’s more, it isn’t just the clubs and fans gearing up for those final weeks of the season, as bookmakers such as Skybet also bringing out their final offers of the season.

Inter’s odds for a top four finish have lengthened in recent weeks, but knowing that everything will be decided by what happens in May, let’s scrutinise the games that are lined up for that month.

Inter’s League Run-In

On paper at least, the final six games for Inter are tougher than those for their rivals for the Champions League spots. Those games (including the final game of the season which falls in June) are:

3rd of May away to Hellas Verona

7th of May away to Roma

14th of May Home to Sassuolo

21st of May Away to Napoli

28th of May Home to Atalanta

4th of June Away to Torino

Not only are four of the last six games to be played away from the San Siro, but three are against top six opposition.

Verona will be fighting for their lives and you have to think would need all three points to avoid falling out of the league.

The away game at Roma is the archetypal six pointer. It is also a lot more besides. The José Mourinho factor cannot be ignored, and Inter will be determined to exact revenge for Roma’s narrow victory last October.

Sassuolo will have nothing other than pride to play for, then it is two very tricky ties which could define Simone’s season.

Napoli are likely to have been crowned champions by the 21st May, so it could be a very good time to play them. Atalanta on the other hand will still have an outside chance of snatching that fourth Champions League spot.

The final game of the campaign at Torino should again be against a side with very little to play for.

It is hard at this stage to predict what sort of points haul Inter will need from those fixtures in order to cement a top four finish, especially as clubs around them are faltering, but twelve feels both achievable and like it will be enough.

The Cups

A place in the top four is not Inter’s only route into the Champions League of course. If they come through their Champions League quarter final tie against Liga Portugal champions elect Benfica, then they will face Italian opposition for a place in the final.

One of Milan and Napoli will stand in their way. Napoli are likely to have sealed Serie A, so would be able to concentrate solely on the Champions League.

If Inter are able to come though that they will face one of Manchester City, Bayern, Real Madrid or Chelsea. Suddenly a top four Serie A spot is looking like the far easier option.

The Champions League is not the only cup competition Inter could still be involved in. After a hard fought draw at the Allianz Stadium, a win in the return leg will see them progress to the final against one of either Cremonese or Fiorentina.

That final will be played on May the 24th which is three days after the league trip to Napoli and four days before Atalanta come to the San Siro.

To further add to the potential fixture pile up, the semi finals for the Champions League are scheduled to be played on the 9th and 16th of May.

That is two days after the away game at Roma, and in between hosting Sassuolo and the trip to Napoli.

It is a run of games that every successful club should look for and enjoy, but it will also be one which will stretch the squad to its limits.

Rotation is always an option but it has backfired before and when every game is crucial, it is a risky strategy.