Milan: Unbeaten Inter Milan maintained their lead at the top of Serie A after a hard-fought goalless draw at arch-rivals Juventus on Saturday.
Luciano Spalletti’s Inter leave Turin two points ahead of second-placed Napoli, who are level on 38 points with Juventus and have the chance to reclaim top spot at home to Fiorentina on Sunday.
Inter can be considered fortunate to escape the Allianz Stadium with a point after watching the dominant hosts create a series of chances, most of which were created by lively right-winger Juan Cuadrado and wasted by Mario Mandzukic.
Inter started the game well but created nothing of note, and as the match wore on the away side sank further back into their own half, unable to keep the ball and in the end lucky to escape with a point.
“Leaving Turin with a point and a clean sheet is positive,” said Spalletti. “The first 30 minutes were very good up until the final third.
“I thought we had the potential to do more, but we gave the ball away because we weren’t determined enough in the second half. We almost seemed to rest on our laurels and be content with just keeping possession.”
Despite Inter’s early domination of the ball, Mandzukic could have given Juve the lead as early as the eighth minute when a Cuadrado cross wormed its way through a crowd of defenders, but the Croat shot straight at Inter keeper Samir Handanovic from close range.
Unfortunate Mandzukic went closer than anyone did to scoring just before the end of a tight first half, meeting another cross from his Colombian teammate only to to see his powerful header thwack the crossbar.
The second half continued as the first ended, but Juve couldn’t capitalise on a wobbling Inter team that was struggling to get out of its own half, with the excellent Handanovic on hand to repel the hosts when they didn’t fluff chances on their own.
Mandzukic — Juve’s freshest player after missing the 2-0 win at Olympiakos that secured their placed in the last 16 of the Champions League — had the best opportunity to win the match with just eight minutes left.
In Berlin, Arturo Vidal’s fourth goal in as many league games shot Bayern Munich to a 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt and an eight-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.
Bayern’s win means that they cannot be caught before the winter break, which starts on December 17, and makes them ‘Herbstmeister’ (Autumn champions) for the seventh season in a row.
Bayern head coach Jupp Heynckes rang the changes from Tuesday’s 3-1 win at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, starting midweek goalscorers Robert Lewandowski and Corentin Tolisso on the bench.
The biggest shock however was that third-choice goalkeeper Tom Starke, who had been working in Bayern’s academy after retiring last season.
The 36-year-old was thrown into the fray after Sven Ulreich, who has played in place of Manuel Neuer since the Germany captain fractured his foot in September, injured his groin in the warm-up.
“I have been doing this for a few years and the juices are still flowing,” said Starke, who came out of retirement in September and was named in the club’s Champions League squad.
