Milan should aim to compete near the top of Serie A, but Paolo Condo believes Internazionale have a clear technical and psychological advantage in the title race.
Speaking on Sky Sport Italia, the pundit assessed Milan’s recent wins and their prospects for the season ahead of the Milan derby on 31 October.
Condo said he would place second as the highest realistic target for the Rossoneri, while insisting they should not restrict their ambitions to simply securing fourth place.
“Can Milan contend for the Serie A title? I’d set the bar at second place; I don’t think first place will belong to them because I believe Internazionale has both a technical and psychological advantagethe comeback against them demonstrates thisand it’s quite a clear advantage, although Milan is improving,” he said.
“Fourth place is the goal they should set for themselves, but they shouldn’t limit themselves to that.”
Condo also discussed the refereeing controversy from Internazionale’s match against Fiorentina, during which a penalty appeal involving Marcus Thuram was not given.
Referee Daniele Orsato subsequently acknowledged that a spot-kick should have been awarded for the Thuram incident, as well as for the incident involving Davide Frattesi.
Asked whether VAR had been intimidated, Condo said the technology’s intervention threshold had been raised and that some decisions had clearly fallen short of the intended standard.
“Was VAR intimidated? That’s a fact. Daniele Orsato often doesn’t shy away from admitting when a refereeing error has occurred. He wants to return to the original standard of ‘clear and obvious error,’” Condo said.
“Thuram’s incident was a clear and obvious error, and VAR should have intervened. But I wouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
Condo said the unawarded penalties involving Thuram, Frattesi and Lazio were examples of decisions that required correction. However, he argued that reducing the threshold for VAR intervention would create different problems.
“There are indeed some errors that need correction, such as those uncalled penalties involving Thuram, Frattesi, and Lazio,” he said.
“However, if the intervention threshold hadn’t been raisedwhich it actually hasthen the referee in the Napoli match would likely have whistled for a foul on Sam Beukema, even though it was an obvious dive, so Roma wouldn’t have gotten that 3-3 draw.”
The pundit said the debate should not focus exclusively on mistakes, adding that the updated approach had also produced benefits.
“For those viewing this purely from a ‘fairness’ perspective, that’s the situation. Rather than focusing solely on errors, it’s better to consider the benefits this innovation and these refereeing guidelines have brought.”
