A precedent that may help shed light on the outcome of this league season: Milan face a crucial task to keep their Scudetto hopes and ambitions alive.A rare opportunity for Massimiliano Allegri’s Milan.The 1-1 draw between Inter and Atalanta in the heated and controversial clash at San Siro sets up an extremely interesting scenario for the Rossoneri: a win in tomorrow evening’s match at the Stadio Olimpico against Lazio would see the club from Via Aldo Rossi close the gap to five points behind Cristian Chivu’s Nerazzurri and potentially reopen the race for the league title and the Scudetto for the 2025/26 season.But rather than the current season, our thoughts go back 27 years, to the 1998/1999 season: as luck would have it, in that championship too, the match at the Olimpico between Lazio and Milan had significant, almost decisive implications in the title race, just as is happening in 2026.But let’s take a step back.MILAN: IS THE SCUDETTO STILL POSSIBLE?First of all, why do our thoughts immediately turn to that particular season?The history of our league saw some unforgettable moments that year, with one of the – truth be told, very few – comebacks ever achieved by a club. But let’s take it one step at a time.The first premise to start with: at this stage of the Serie A season, no team has ever managed to make up a double-digit deficit to the league leaders and then go on to win the Scudetto at the end of the season.We were saying, however, that the history of the last 30 years teaches us that something very similar has actually happened. It was the 1998–99 season, with Milan as the protagonists, but Alberto Zaccheroni was in charge: with seven matches remaining, the Rossoneri found themselves seven points behind Lazio. From that point on, the Biancocelesti lost the Derby against Roma and the match against Juventus, before drawing against Fiorentina on the penultimate matchday. Eight points dropped, and Milan capitalised: seven wins in a row, overtaking them on the penultimate matchday and winning the Scudetto on the final day.To be honest, in any case, that match between Lazio and Milan ended 0-0, which at the time did nothing to alter the league table. The Rossoneri remained seven points behind, failing to close the gap on the Biancocelesti, but from that match onwards, Zaccheroni’s men began their comeback, managing to reduce the deficit, wipe it out and overtake Lazio, eventually winning the Scudetto.But in 2026, the situation is similar, albeit with its differences: Massimiliano Allegri’s Milan also find themselves trailing in the table (following Inter’s draw, the gap between the two sides has widened to eight points), but the Rossoneri still have a match to play, namely the one at the Olimpico against Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio.A result identical (or even worse) to that recorded almost 27 years ago would clearly change nothing in the current table, indeed complicating the Milan side’s plans for qualification for the next edition of the Champions League. A win against the Romans in Rome would usher in a new phase of the league campaign, with Milan halving the deficit accumulated by Inter since their Derby victory, bringing the situation back to where it stood before the matches against Como and Parma.Milan, therefore, can focus on nothing but Lazio.The Rossoneri lost their Coppa Italia round of 16 tie against the Biancocelesti in December, but this match will be different: the difference in motivation is stark, to put it mildly. Allegri is working out the best line-up to field, given Rabiot’s suspension: this week, Jashari seems to have edged out Ricci as a possible starter, whilst up front Leao and Pulisic are set to start again, with the rest of the Derby line-up likely to remain unchanged.If they pick up three points, the gap will be down to five, and from there they might start looking at the fixture list.In essence, the final question we want to ask ourselves again today is: can Milan really believe in a Scudetto comeback?Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingBut what does manager Massimiliano Allegri make of all this?At today’s press conference, the Livorno-born manager was clear on the matter: “It’s not a question of trying to win the Scudetto; we must give it our all, knowing that there’s a team seven points ahead of us who have so far proved themselves to be the strongest. We need to win another five matches to finish in the top four; we must focus solely on ourselves without looking at the others. There’s only one way to catch up with Inter: win our matches and hope they drop points; the pitch will decide. I repeat: there’s only one way for us to catch up with Inter. That they lose and we win. All this talk… only the results will tell if we’ve done well to win so many matches and they’ve dropped points.”So, next up is Lazio – and what does the Serie A fixture list hold for Milan between now and the end of the season?Next up is the match against Torino at San Siro and the tricky away trip to Naples to secure a Champions League spot. Following that, after Udinese at the Meazza and Verona at the Bentegodi, Milan face another trio of extremely tough opponents: home matches against Juventus and Atalanta, with a game against Sassuolo in between.The season concludes with a trip to Marassi for the match against Genoa and the final league fixture, at home, against Cagliari.To truly believe in a comeback, Allegri’s recipe is clear and he has made it explicit: Milan must pick up more points and win as many games as possible.And what aboutInter?Following the home draw with Atalanta, all eyes are on the match against Roma, who are coming to San Siro to battle it out for a Champions League spot – but not before the away trip to Florence to face a Fiorentina side desperately in need of points to keep their fight against relegation alive. Following that, after away trips to Como and Turin and home matches against Cagliari and Parma, Chivu’s men will finish with a trip away from San Siro to face Lazio, the San Siro clash with Verona and the final matchday against Bologna.The turning point of the season could come tomorrow evening, but this slip-up by the Nerazzurri may begin to rekindle a glimmer of hope among the Rossoneri faithful that they might still have a chance to challenge for the Scudetto.All the latest updates in real time! Join the CALCIOMERCATO.COM WhatsApp channel: click here