Two of Europe's top clubs are in crisis as Real Madrid fell to a 1-0 loss at Athletic Bilbao and AC Milan could only manage a 2-2 draw with Verona.
The results leave Carlo Ancelotti's men top, but just two points ahead of a Barcelona side who have a game in hand, while Filippo Inzaghi's Milan are 10th in Serie A with just eight wins in their 26 league matches.
The Sunday papers in Spain and Italy have not held back in their criticism of the teams, with Corriere dello Sport's headline reading: 'No future for Inzaghi'. In Spain, 'Freefall' is the headline in Marca.
AC Milan have struggled for the entirety of this season, and Inzaghi himself was coy about his future after the match.
Corriere carry a quote from the former Milan player: 'Will I stay? I'm not the one to ask,' while Gazzetta Sportiva quote Pippo as saying: 'We gave away a goal like fools. I go forward with my head held high.'
Nico Lopez was the scorer of Verona's all-important equaliser, in the 95th minute of the match. As Sportiva point out, he was the man who scored the goal against Inter Milan that led to the sacking of Walter Mazzarri in 2014.
Inzaghi saw his side conceding a goal in the 95th minute which many believe was conceded because of his defensive substitute (Bocchetti for Pazzini) and there had been rumours all day that Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani will meet today (Sunday) to discuss the future of the coach who hasn’t been as successful as he was as a player, to say the least.
The thing that is obvious to all is that it is nearly impossible that Inzaghi will be coaching Milan next season. Nonetheless, his future has yet to be officially decided. The meeting that was supposed to take place at Arcore has been postponed or cancelled with La Gazzetta dello Sport’s Carlo Laudisa claiming that President Berlusconi has decided to award Inzaghi another chance himself.
This however, was not confirmed by Sky and others in the Italian media who at this point suggest that it’s not a confirmation but merely a no-sacking and Pippo is still very much in danger of losing his job. But avoiding additional plot twists, Inzaghi will conduct training tomorrow at 15:00 CET.
There were even rumours that some of the staff members of Inzaghi would be let go if Inzaghi gets fired. Meanwhile Mauro Tassotti and Cristian Brocchi appear as the leading candidates to replace Inzaghi if he were to be sacked before the end of the season. Brocchi is currently in pole position.
More developments are expected in the next days. Milan’s next match is against Fiorentina, who are coached by Vincenzo Montella, the man Galliani and Berlusconi reportedly want for next season.