Inter Milan Moves Into Second Place In Serie A Standings

When Italian Serie A side Inter Milan was beaten by Palermo a few games ago, their chances of catching current leaders and bitter rivals AC Milan were described as slim, but following Napoli's defeat on the weekend, they have moved into second place.

On Saturday AC Milan picked up another three points when they defeated Chievo 1-0, as did Inter Milan when they defeated Lazio 2-1. Napoli, however, lost their match 2-1 against Palermo, which was enough to drop them into third place, just one point behind Inter.

Whether that will help Inter close the eight point gap between them and AC Milan remains to be seen, especially when you consider how well Milan are currently playing. However, Inter will have received a big confidence boost, which may impact the rest of their season.

With just a handful of games left to play in the 2010/11 Serie A season, Milan will have to lose - or at least tie - the majority of their games, while Inter will have to win all of theirs. And yes, while this is no doubt a tall order, football can be unpredictable at the best of times.

That said, the Serie A title could all but be decided on the weekend. If AC Milan beat Bologna at home and Inter Milan lose to Cesena on the road, Milan will be crowned the 2010/11 Serie A champions, effectively breaking Inter's impressive five season winning streak.

But with the title almost a foregone conclusion, of greater interest to many Serie A fans is the battle between Lazio, Udinese and Roma, who are sitting on 60, 59 and 56 points respectively. With such a small points gap between them, the next few games will be crucial.

Seventh place club Juventus had a great opportunity to narrow the gap on Lazio last weekend, but they scuppered their chance by drawing 2-2 with Catania. The result was yet another example of Juve's lack of consistency that has plagued them for much of the season.

Here are the complete Serie A results from the weekend: