That Alessandro Del Piero marked his 700th appearance with the goal to defeat Champions League-chasing Lazio may be the most memorable moment of Week 32. However, most significant was that with still 10 minutes of the game to play and with the target of third place still to play for, Edy Reja’s team barely had the energy to fight back against Juventus.

Antonio Conte may have lamented post-match the poor finishing from his players to not tie up the result sooner, but this was an effective bombardment. In fact, beyond Hernanes’ long-range blocked effort on 89, the visitors didn’t manage a single shot in the entire second half of a game they still played well during, but that tellingly, their goalkeeper had most touches in.

As Fiorentina, Inter, Napoli and Palermo before them, the Aquile were basically left breathless by a fit and fighting Juve. It is perhaps most significant because not only is it a trait opponents of Juve have demonstrated from the first week of the season, but it is nowhere near being matched by title rivals Milan, as their struggles against Fiorentina at the weekend and Chievo on Tuesday demonstrated.

Much discussion this season has focused on a number of changes the Turin outfit have made so as to enter the title race so convincingly. One has been on Coach Conte’s almost maniacal attention to detail in tactics and technical instructions that has created a team capable of switching formations at the drop of a hat – indeed, Wednesday night highlighted this excellently, as Paolo De Ceglie’s withdrawal in the warm-up prompted a reshuffle from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3 minutes before kick-off.

Another rhetoric surrounding the Turin club has been on the mindset Conte has introduced to the dressing room that sees the side deservedly unbeaten with just a handful of games left this term, whilst another has surrounded the team’s willing high work-rate in games. Yet, as the tactician inadvertently admitted pre-Lazio, these are traits equally apparent in Milan.

“Milan are a super power, a battleship that was created for the grand slam. Up until three weeks ago there was talk of them winning everything. They have 35 players of the highest level and despite many absences can play well in many formations and from this point of view, we take them as an example.”

Many absences may be a notable difference between the two teams – the Rossoneri have suffered five-and-a-half times as many absentees this season than the Bianconeri – yet, there are developing statistics and schools of thought about a specific point that has seen Conte draw praise where Allegri has been criticised – how they physically prepare their players.

First and perhaps an easily understandable statistic in light of the changes forced upon him on a weekly basis, Allegri can only list five Milan players to have started 30 or more games this season in all competitions. Explanations in Allegri’s favour for the team’s five dropped points in recent weeks, their nervous and lethargic win over Chievo in Week 32 and their elimination to Barcelona have centred on a general tiredness to the squad. Allegri himself described the players as fatigued this week, whilst Ignazio Abate admitted they were ‘very tired’. Arrigo Sacchi also suggested the only issues were physiological.

However, five players with 30 or more appearances this season in all competitions is a number also attributable to Juventus, whilst Milan’s Champions League conquerors Barcelona actually went into the recent quarter-final already with 10 players past that mark. The Bianconeri also have nine men to have passed 2000 minutes played in Serie A this season, against Milan’s five to have passed that figure. In short, few of Milan’s players have played enough games to warrant being any more tired than their rivals going into the final rounds of the season, a time when fitness should be peaking.

This is followed up by Enrico Castellacci’s writing on why he believes Juventus are able to conversely finish games visibly with more energy than their opponents. Writing in the Gazzetta dello Sport, the chief medic to the Italian national team, who first hand will have been monitoring a number of players from Juve and Milan through several recent seasons, noted the training work at Vinovo has played an integral part to ongoing energy levels this term.

“There is unquestionable professional competence in the Bianconeri’s preparations, whilst also an indisputable scientific rationality, especially with the work done in the summer. This is often overlooked, but their preparations have certainly been calculated in a logical manner, identifying in advance the physiological characteristics of each player and then finding a most appropriate means of training for them.”

As Alexandre Pato’s experiences at Milanello this term have highlighted, personal fitness programmes and the science of preparation in training have not been visible strengths of the Rossoneri over the last 12 months. Whilst injuries have hit the squad for the past four years, perhaps the manner of the contrasting performances Week 32 produced between themselves and title rivals Juve may be enough to enact change in the summer, if it is Allegri’s responsibility or someone else’s.

Elsewhere, Catania were 10 minutes away from going above Inter in the League table, until Diego Milito’s 17th goal since the turn of the year and Lecce’s remarkable comeback in Sicily saw the Nerazzurri maintain seventh with a win and the Elefanti lose at home to the Salentini for the first time in 70 years.

Form under Serse Cosmi has been such at Lecce that only seven other sides have picked up more points in the League since he took over the team he supports in December. Notably, Genoa will feel that statistic more than most, as an 11th game without a win sees the gap between themselves at the Giallorossi cut to just two points.