Serie A: Allegri leads after seven games, title usually follows | OneFootball

Seven matchdays were enough to bring Milan back to the top of Serie A. After three years of waiting, the Rossoneri are once again looking down on everyone, and they do so with Massimiliano Allegri at the helm, reports Sportmediaset.

Serie A, Allegri, the hare that never gets caught: when he leads at the seventh matchday, the title is his

An apparently statistical detail, but far from trivial, shines a spotlight on the Tuscan coach: every time Allegri has been first at the seventh matchday, he has gone on to win the title.

A fact that gives pause

Milan is ahead, and Allegri maintains his classic low profile. “Let’s move forward with enthusiasm, but without getting carried away because it’s still a long way to go,” he declared after the comeback victory against Atalanta. Behind those measured words lies a truth that worries those chasing: once the hare Max takes off, he doesn’t get caught.

The numbers are clear. When his teams have finished the seventh matchday in the lead, the Livorno coach has always celebrated the championship at the end of the season:

2014/15,

2016/17,

2018/19, all three titles won with Juventus. A coincidence? Perhaps. But it says a lot about the way Allegri builds his victories.

The philosophy of “allegrismo”

“Allegrismo” is a school of football thought made of realism, balance, and concreteness. Not always spectacular, but tremendously effective. Allegri’s teams don’t get lost in aesthetic frills: they concede little, exploit every opportunity, and manage matches with a rare mental solidity in modern football.

The coach often repeats: “The title is won by the team that concedes the fewest goals.” So far, the numbers support him: Milan boasts the second-best defense in the league with just four goals conceded, one more than Gasperini’s Roma.

Yet, the strength of the Rossoneri is not only in the numbers but in their ability to secure “dirty” points:

the three snatched from Napoli, with ten men for almost a half;

those won in a comeback against Atalanta, after Gosens’ fluke goal.

However, Allegri doesn’t forget the two points lost at Allianz against Juventus, “due” to Pulisic’s missed penalty. A detail that, in his way of thinking, can make the difference at the end of the season.

Mentality and management: the secret of continuity

What distinguishes Allegri is mental clarity. For him, “one more point at the end of the year is worth as much as a decisive goal.” It’s the sum of the details that counts, not the brilliance of a single moment. The distance doesn’t change the final result: whether it’s a point, a meter, or four lengths, the victory remains.

Today Milan is ahead, with Inter, Napoli, and Roma on their heels. A minimal advantage, but enough to start what Allegri loves to call “a long hare chase.”

He has won titles even while chasing — with Milan in 2010/11 and with Juve in 2015/16 and 2017/18 — but he has never lost when he was the one being chased.

The (unspoken) message to the league

“Messages to the league?” he was asked. “None,” Allegri replied with his usual aplomb. Yet, the message is clear. It doesn’t need to be proclaimed: when Max is leading at the seventh matchday, the league becomes a chase for a hare that, so far, no one has ever managed to catch.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.