Berlusconi slump mirrors Milan’s form

FOOTBALL and politics are so inextricably linked in Italy that it was no surprise when Silvio Berlusconi fainted while delivering a speech on Sunday and had to be whisked off to hospital for a check-up.

Just an irregular heartbeat according to the doctors, but the political commentators are claiming that Berlusconi is suffering from burnout following his election defeat in April, while the gossip has it that the stress of facing yet another trial for embezzlement and tax fraud may finally have got to him.

However, it is blindingly obvious to anyone in the know that the reason for the old man’s collapse was Saturday night’s game at the San Siro.