AC Milan travel to humble Verona on Friday hoping to revive the festive spirit as Europe’s seven-time kings battle inconsistent form and the wrath of fans as local rivals and Serie A champions Inter Milan get into the swing of things. The expectant Milan fans demand excitement and trophies, and this season has so far offered very little of the former and is unlikely to end with the latter. Paulo Fonseca’s side lie eighth in Italy’s top flight, 14 points behind leaders Atalanta – albeit with a game to go – and are in disarray as the coach appears to be at the end of his tenure at San Siro after just six months of his tenure forces is.

The Portuguese has had open conflicts with older players and questioned his team’s commitment by repeatedly attacking his compatriot and star winger Rafael Leao and using French full-back Theo Hernandez against a teenage academy player in last weekend’s dismal goalless draw with Genoa .

Meanwhile, fans are on a war footing, attacking the owners on Saturday as celebrations of the club’s 125th birthday were marred not only by poor play and the very obvious absence of Paolo Maldini among the legendary players who paraded on the pitch, but also The sale of the US investment fund RedBird was overshadowed by demanding chants.

To mark the anniversary, fans then gathered outside a private party, where they lined up most of the arriving players and hung banners with messages such as “A club without ambition, you are not worthy of our history.”

A by-product of these loud protests is that Fonseca is reportedly taking Milan to Verona with his job, and Italian media are suggesting players like former national coach Roberto Mancini as replacements if they leave the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi with less than three points.

That may not be an easy task as Verona were only prevented from winning by an injury-time penalty in their last game at Juventus.

Milan’s problems were made worse for fans by Inter’s 6-0 win over Lazio, a resounding victory that showed they will not give up their league title lightly.

Third-placed Inter are three points behind Atalanta with one game remaining and host Como on Monday evening, their last Serie A game before Christmas. There are signs that Simone Inzaghi’s players are ready to shift gears.

Inzaghi will be without injured star midfielder Nicolo Barella and defenders Francesco Acerbi and Benjamin Pavard, but has strong deputies who have shown they can fit into the coach’s tried-and-tested system.

Atalanta hosts Empoli on Sunday defending a two-point lead over Napoli, fresh from a 6-1 win over Serie B side Cesena in the Italian Cup and a club-record 11th straight league win.

Player to Watch: David Neres (Napoli)

Brazil international Neres has largely played a substitute role behind Khvicha Kvaratskhelia since joining from Benfica in August, but has consistently impressed in his appearances on the bench.

And Kvaratskhelia’s knee injury led to a rare start for Neres at Udinese, where he showed off his direct running and dynamism.

Neres will be in Antonio Conte’s starting XI for the fifth time on Saturday evening in Genoa, where the hosts will play their first game since being taken over by Romanian Dan Sucu on Wednesday.

Important statistics

10 – Atalanta’s current winning streak in Serie A, a club record.

11 – The number of points separating Milan from Inter.

Schedules (times GMT)

Friday

Verona vs. AC Milan (1945)

Saturday

Turin vs. Bologna (1400), Genoa vs. Naples (1700), Lecce vs. Lazio (1945)

Sunday

Roma vs. Parma (1130), Venezia vs. Cagliari (1400), Atalanta vs. Empoli (1700), Monza vs. Juventus (1945)

Monday

Fiorentina vs. Udinese (1730), Inter Milan vs. Como (1945)

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)