Matchday 26 of the 2025/26 Serie A season will likely be remembered as the weekend in which Inter won the Scudetto. The Nerazzurri did their part, as they always seem to do, with late goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Manuel Akanji securing a hard-earned 2-0 victory away at relegation-threatened Lecce. Then, Christian Chivu’s side could sit back and watch the chaos unfold as one by one, all of their nearest challengers fell by the wayside.
First up came Juventus, who were downed 2-0 at home to Cesc Fabregas’ high-flying Como, thanks to goals from Mergim Vojvoda and Maxence Caqueret. Then, reigning champions Napoli lost to Atalanta in Bergamo, with second-half goals from Mario Pasalic and Lazar Samardzic overturning Sam Beukema’s opener for the visitors. But the biggest shocker came on Sunday evening.
Inter’s cross-city rivals, Milan, hosted Parma in what looked as though it would be a routine victory for the Rossoneri. Max Allegri’s men hadn’t lost since being stunned on the opening day of the campaign by newly promoted Cremonese, and recent impressive away wins at Como and Bologna kept them in the title fight somewhat. However, on a day when they should have cut the deficit down to seven points, Milan were suckerpunched by lowly Parma, courtesy of center back Mariano Troilo’s winner ten minutes from full time.
Inter’s Dominance
The result is that Inter have surged ten points clear at the summit of Serie A, with online betting sites clearly feeling that the deficit is now insurmountable. The latest odds from the popular Lucky Rebel site now make the Nerazzurri a mighty 1/20 favorite to reclaim the Scudetto this term, which basically means that they have one hand on the trophy already. Milan are now way out at 12/1, with Napoli even further back at 33/1. But that’s not all.
Inter remain alive on three fronts this season. Serie A is looking wrapped up already, while they are also through to the Coppa Italia semifinals, with just a two-legged tie against Como standing between them and the final. In the Champions League, they are through to the knockout playoff round, albeit a 3-1 first leg defeat to Norwegian champions Bodø/Glimt means that there is work to do in the reverse fixture in the San Siro if they wish to progress through to the Round of 16.
But what of their nearest rivals? Can any of them manage to muster up the strength to eat into that points deficit? Is the title race already dead and buried before we even reach March? Let’s take a look.
Top dogs will all make a statement in game 1.
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Bayern -131 pic.twitter.com/FZOnm5Fgb6— Lucky Rebel (@LuckyRebel__) September 17, 2025
Milan’s Challenge Fades
Milan were already in trouble even before Parma visited the San Siro. Yes, they had only lost once all season, but while their cross-city rivals Inter have been busy reeling off wins, the Rossoneri have been dropping points left, right, and center. Como, Roma, Fiorentina, Genoa, and Sassuolo have all taken points off of Allegri’s men throughout that time frame, resulting in them falling further and further behind the league leaders.
That disappointment has been made all the more painful considering that Milan were the last team to beat Inter, proving that they do indeed have what it takes to compete at the highest level. Christian Pulisic’s second-half goal back in November handed the Rossoneri a famous 1-0 win against their biggest rival and put them one point ahead of them in the table. Since then, though, the two teams have gone in opposite directions.
The two sides will clash again in the coming weeks, and for Milan, defeat is not an option. Victory would cut the gap to seven points with ten games to play, still a huge margin, but one that could be reeled in. Defeat, however, and that margin becomes 13 points, and the Scudetto will almost certainly head to the black-and-blue half of Milan once again.
Napoli’s Disappointing Title Defence
This time last season, it was Napoli who were looking to eat into Inter’s title race advantage. Antonio Conte’s men were six points behind the treble-chasing Nerazzurri with just six games remaining. Then, however, back-to-back defeats against Bologna and Roma opened the door for the Partenopei, and they didn’t look back, moving level on points before claiming the title on the final day of the campaign with a 2-0 victory at home to Cagliari.
This season, though, things are much different. The recent 2-1 defeat at Atalanta has put them 13 points off the pace, a deficit surely too big to make any inroads into. A run of three draws to start the New Year hurt their chances, before defeats away at Juventus, and now Atalanta has left them with too much work to do. They do have a kind run-in, with a home game against Milan and a trip to Como the only difficult tests of note, but even if they won every game remaining this term, they still would likely finish well behind the Nerazzurri.