Serie A’s hierarchy takes shape after wild night in Milan and flat draw in Turin | Serie A

Already as the words were being spoken, Cristian Chivu started to bristle. “Scontri diretti” translates to “head-to-head clashes”. The term is commonly deployed in a football context as a shorthand for those high-stakes games between teams who are expected to finish close together in the table – much like “six-pointers” in the English game.

Chivu’s Inter finished 11 points clear…