Monday Night Serie A Roundup: Juventus and Milan Win as the Old Lady Puts Pressure on Title Rivals

Serie A followed in the footsteps of their continental counterparts as the Italian top flight returned to our screens after three calcio-less months.

A staggered opening weekend coughed up few surprises as Atalanta continued to rattle in the goals while the irresistible duo of Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martínez both found the net in an Inter win. The red half of Milan was forced to wait until Monday night for the Rossoneri's Serie A return against struggling Lecce, while the hipsters tuned in to see whether a youth-filled Fiorentina - and 37-year-old Franck Ribéry - could harness some of their promise against Brescia.

At the top of the table, Juventus travelled to Bologna for a tricky opener, with the bitter taste of defeat in the Coppa Italia final to Napoli still fresh in their mouths.

Bologna 0-2 Juventus

Bologna started the match at an incredible pace for a side whose last competitive fixture was in February, snapping at the heels of their lofty opponents as their manager Siniša Mihajlović - who has battled leukaemia all season - barked encouragement from the sidelines.

Nevertheless, Juventus opened the scoring inside 25 minutes as Cristiano Ronaldo converted a spot-kick before Paulo Dybala lashed in a second. The Argentinian was at his elusive best against Bologna, nominally starting as the side's striker but popping up in pockets of space across the park.

However, Maurizio Sarri singled out the third member of Juve's attacking trident on the night, Federico Bernardeschi, for praise as he lamented how the Italian's contribution has often been 'underrated' this season.

The 26-year-old was a surprise selection and has been linked with a move away from Turin over the enforced hiatus. Yet, amid the empty stands of the Renato Dall'Ara, he acted as a perfect foil for Juve's front two on the right flank, providing the delicate flick to tee up Dybala's fizzing drive.

This win hauls the pressure onto second-placed Lazio who - now four points adrift - face free-scoring Atalanta for their game in hand on Wednesday.

Lecce 1-4 Milan

Not too long ago (well, far too long ago if you ask their fans) Milan would also have been in the Serie A title race, but now the Rossoneri's focus is drawn worryingly downwards, to the bevvy of sides battling it out for a Europa League spot.

Despite Zlatan Ibrahimović's absence, Milan didn't struggle for firepower against Lecce as they scored four goals for the first time in a Serie A match since September 2018. The imposing Swede's injury seemed to have presented an opportunity for the young Portuguese forward Rafael Leão to fill his size 12s, but the 21-year-old has started on the bench in each of Milan's two fixtures following the return.

This didn't stop Leão scoring his side's fourth of the night, although Milan's standout performer was his teammate Hakan Çalhanoğlu.

The Turkish playmaker laid on two of Milan's goals, and his deflected shot was seized upon by Giacomo Bonaventura to put them 2-1 up just minutes after a Lecce penalty levelled the score. Those were just Çalhanoğlu's second and third assists of the season, his first since way back in October when Milan were again pitted against... that's right, Lecce.

Fiorentina 1-1 Brescia

Fiorentina started sloppily, clearly showing the effects of more than 100 days away from competition, and Martín Cáceres gave away an avoidable penalty in the 17th minute.

As Mario Balotelli's fairytale return to his boyhood club unravels, the reliable spot-kick taker was forced to watch his teammate Alfred Donnarumma convert the penalty after being left out of the squad and turned away from training earlier in the week.

Fiorentina captain Germán Pezzella powered in the equaliser 12 minutes later. Even though the goals stopped before the half-hour mark, the ball did find its way into the net after the break.

Fiorentina saw two goals (correctly) disallowed in the space of five second-half minutes to deny first Ribéry then Dusan Vlahovic as the Viola racked up the pressure on their visitors. Fiorentina bombarded their opponents with no fewer than 17 shots inside the penalty area, as relegation-threatened Brescia hung on for a valuable point.

Fiorentina's Cáceres followed up his shaky start with a reckless second yellow card in the 70th minute, but even with ten men the hosts continued their assault, ending the game breathless and disappointed.