Serie A Week 17 Review and Week 18

                                                                             Week 17 Review of Serie A

The Italian top flight championship blasted off last weekend into the new year of 2012 with a great statistic: all but two of the winning sides collected clean sheets scoring a total of 31 goals! Now who says that the Italians don’t score?! Internazionale FC is back in the title hunt where they belong with a very convincing 5-0 victory at home against Parma FC. Argentine forward Diego Milito scored a brace. The Nerazzurri now sit in 5^th place with 29 points, 8 points behind league leaders AC Milan and Juventus FC. The big upset took place in Siena where SS Lazio was pounded 4-1. The Biancocelesti are now 5 points behind the final Champions League position. Udinese FC crushed Cesena Calcio 4-1 at the Stadio Friuli in Udine and remains two points behind the league leaders. They also remain undefeated at home so far this season.

Now, to WEEK 18! Hopefully it will be as good as last week as there are some key match-ups.  Firstly, AS Roma travels to Sicily to play Catania Calcio. This will be former boss Vicenzo Montella’s first game against the club for which he played and coached. The Lupi have shown good form of late and Coach Luis Enrique is very pleased with his players’ performances. ACF Fiorentina will host US Lecce who played very well against Juventus last weekend. Ever since Viola coach Delio Rossi changed the formation and instructed a new tactical system to his players, Fiorentina have looked like the Fiorentina of old from the days of Gabriel Batistuta! The Florence-based side is also riding on a high, fresh from a 3-0 victory against Novara. The Giallorossi of Lecce have a tough task ahead and will be without star left-back Djamel Mesbah who will be a healthy scratch. Rumor has it, he will be joining Italian giants AC Milan sometime this week. Genoa FC will welcome Udinese Calcio to the Marassi in Genova. The bianconeri of Udine will be eager to keep pace with the rest of the pack. Genoa is waiting on their new January signing Alberto Giliardino to make an impact in his first game at home with his new team. Juventus FC play at home against Cagliari. The Old Lady of Italian Football is the only undefeated team remaining in the Serie A. Odds are she will remain undefeated. Alessandro Matri is looking forward to haunting his old club. Furthermore, Bianconeri boss Antonio Conte is contemplating releasing his new addition in attack, Marco Borriello, with whom the Juve Ultras have a bone to pick due to the former Roma player’s ‘refusal’ to join the Old Lady back in 2010. Last weekend, the Ultras unfurled a banner during the match with Lecce, stating ‘Borriello, mercenary without honour or dignity.’ It will be interesting to see whether Conte decides to call up his new striker and see how the Ultras react. Another promising fixture of possible excitement will be SS Lazio taking on Atalanta at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. The Laziali will be eager to quickly remove the memory of the terrible start to 2012 the side had last weekend. SSC Napoli will face Bologna FC at the San Paolo stadium in Naples. Lastly but not least of course, the BIGGEST DERBY IN THE WORLD: the DERBY DELLA MADONNINA, a.k.a the Milan Derby. AC Milan will host city-rivals, Internazionale FC. This is a huge game for both clubs. The Derby is wide open with both teams in very good form. An Inter win will officially place the Nerazzurri back in the title race once again. The Rossoneri will be looking to put an end to Inter’s 5-game winning streak and end their hopes of any title aspirations the Nerazzurri might have. There has also been a battle off the field to sign Machester City outcast for Carlos Tevez. Earlier this week, it looked like Milan pulled out of the race. But today, the news from England is that Tevez’s agent stated that Milan is still in the race to sign his client. In addition, there is some very good news out of the Milan camp this week as Italian international Antonio Cassano has been cleared to resume training. This is great news for Azzurri fans and the Diavoli faithful. Hopefully Cassano can get back sooner than expected. Italy coach Cesare Prandelli and Rossoneri boss Massimiliano Allegri are both eager to have the Bari-born striker back in their line-up. Enjoy Week 18 of the Serie A!

Here are the results for Week 17

Week 18 Fixture list

FORZA MILAN!

And thats the last word!